Expectations
by Machiavan5757
Summary: Things go a little too far, when Rouge and Knuckles are forced to share a night together in a hotel room. One thing leads to another until they finally end up in a situation neither one really saw coming. KxR
1. Chapter 1

Knuckles stood at the front desk in the hotel lobby wondering what in his right mind had convinced him to come down here. Naturally he would've turned down any invitation that would drive him away from his confinement on that altar on Angel Island. But Sonic had insisted that Knuckles just needed a day to relax and hang out. They –Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails- wasted the whole day walking around Station Square, eating and just wandering around checking out the sights. Knuckles was surprised how much things have changed since he had been there, but he still had that never-ending nag in the back of his head that reminded him of the emerald that he had left on the island with the most trust-worthy inhabitants of the village nearby to watch over it during his absence.

Sonic had promised him that he'd only have to stay until the early evening hours but hadn't predicted the storm that moved in as the sun disappeared behind the horizon. Knuckles knew there was no chance that he could get to his island that night so he had to stay in a hotel overnight. So there he stood, while the clerk rang him up and handed him a card key, labeled Room 191. Knuckles forced a tired smile and dragged himself up the stairs up to his room. He wanted this night to be over already, so he could just get back up to Angel Island and end this torment. The crackling thunder shook the walls as he walked down the narrow hallways of the hotel, looking at each of the room numbers.

Room 188, Room 189, Room 190, until finally he reached Room 191. He sighed and slid the card through the slot. A tiny green light twinkled on the machine, welcoming his entrance into the room. But something was wrong. As he entered, he noticed a dim light coming from the nightstand by the single double bed, suitcases were already lying against the wall, and a jacket draped over the back of the chair. He looked down at his card key once more and stumbled backwards.

There must be some mistake, he thought and as he reached out for the doorknob, he glanced up from his key, just in time for him to see the silhouette of a familiar white bat sitting up on the bed.

Rouge the bat stood there, staring back at him.

"What are you doing here?" both of their voices rang in harmony.

"Me?"

"This is my room!"

Rouge shook her head and held up her hand, "Whoa, wait. You sure? What's your room number?"

Knuckles stubbed him finger at his key, directly at the **Room 191**. "This one! Room 191."

"That's impossible. Are you sure you're not holding it upside down and it's really 161?"

"Nope, that's what it says," He handed the card to her, "See for yourself."

Rouge took a quick glimpse. "There's been some mistake. Come on," she said heading for the door, "Let's go check down at the clerk's desk."

* * *

But of course, the clerk wasn't at his desk and there was a cardboard stand that read, "On break. Wait in lobby to be checked in."

They waited but an hour later, he still hadn't showed up.

Knuckles threw up his hands, "This is insane"

Rouge, who had been filing her nails, looked up, "You're the one who got the wrong number. Not me. You can always sleep in the hallway."

"You're not helping." Knuckles growled.

"I'm trying to! I'm down here waiting with you, aren't I?"

Even though this was true, Knuckles refused to agree with her. He let out a sigh and crossed his arms. The storm outside was kicking up a notch. The trees were bent backwards by the winds and a lone umbrella tumbled across the parking lot. Clouds in the sky were a deep indigo.

"Well, if you want to, you can just stay in the room with me until the morning." she suggested.

He looked over at her.

"Except there's one problem," she added.

"What?"

She blew on her nails and didn't meet his eyes, "There's only one bed."

He chewed on his bottom lip and tried to hold back the blush that was creeping up his neck.

"I could sleep on the floor." he said.

She smiled, "I don't have cooties Knuckles. Besides, it's a wide double bed. I think if we're careful, we can avoid the obvious." At that, her smile faded down to a seductive smirk.

He sighed again and looked at the wall clock. She was right. It was only for one night and Knuckles was so tired, he could probably fall right asleep before she tried anything on him.

"Okay" he said slowly as they both rose from their chairs, "I'll do it."

* * *

Back up in the room, Knuckles stood there awkwardly as Rouge was clearing away her stuff so he would have more space.

"Sorry," she said, lifting her duffel bag and moving it across the room, "I wasn't expecting company tonight."

He couldn't help but grin, "Do you need help?"

She looked back at him over her shoulder, "I'm a big girl Knuxie. I can do it myself."

She walked back over to him.

"Thanks for the offer, though."

He didn't say anything and sank down on the chair.

"Where's your stuff?" she asked.

He shook his head, "I don't have any. I didn't really expect to stay the night; I only came to visit for the day then all that changed when this blew in." He motioned towards the window where a bolt of lightning zigzagged across the sky.

"Oh," she said and sat down on the bed.

There was a few minutes of awkward silence as they watched the storm rage on outside.

"So, why are you here?" Knuckles asked finally.

"Business matters." she said in a bored voice, "The government sent me here for a convention. It was boring as hell and this was only day one."

"You still work for the government?"

"Unfortunately"

Knuckles nodded and looked over at the side table. He dared not ask about her other job, he was afraid of the answer that might come.

He noticed some bottles of Jack Daniels and Smirnoff vodka crammed in the corner of the desk, behind her toiletries bag.

"Were you planning on throwing some grand big party tonight?" he asked pointing at them.

"What?" she spun around, "Oh, those. Naw, they're here just in case I wanted to have some fun."

Knuckles felt his cheeks grow warm. "Fun?"

"You know, going to the bar, dancing, bringing a guy up to the room to have a drink, and maybe to mess around a bit," She grinned, "That kind of fun."

"Oh."

"Have you ever done something like that before?" she asked.

"No. There aren't any bars on Angel Island. And I've never really left my post until now." he admitted.

"So, you've never done that with any girl?"

"No."

"Dang, boy." She lowered her voice as if there was another person in the room, "So, are you a virgin?"

Knuckles felt a lump form in his throat, "What's that?"

Her face fell and she gaped at him, "Oh. My. God."

"What?"

She didn't say anything and ran over to the bottle of vodka. She picked up one of the plastic cups that belonged to the hotel and poured some in.

"Here," she shoved the cup under his nose. "Drink," she demanded, "Now."

Knuckles looked into the cup and frowned, "What is it?"

"Sparkling water," she said sarcastically, plopping down on the armrest.

He took the cup from her and sipped it. Almost immediately he spit it out, sending it spraying across the room. "Ugh," he said, wiping his mouth. "That's awful."

Rouge put her hands on the cup and directed it back up to his mouth. He cringed.

"Come on Knuckles. It'll be good for you. I'm telling you to drink the whole cup. Look, I'll drink some too if it will make you feel better."

She went back over the bottle and poured a cup for herself. Then she rejoined him.

"Rouge, why are you doing this?" he asked looking up at her.

"Because, you are missing out on so many things and this is gonna help you."

He wrinkled his nose as he glanced down into the cup, "I don't wanna be shit-faced. Honestly, I just want to sleep."

"Just one cup Knuckles. You won't get drunk after one." She insisted.

"Will it shut you up if I do?"

"Yes"

"Just one?"

"Mmhm"

He sighed and lifted the cup to his lips and drank it in three big glugs.

Smiling, Rouge watched as he finished it and squeezed his eyes shut while clenching his teeth.

_Impressive_, she thought.

Straightening his face, he nodded at her, "Now you."

"Hmm?"

"Drink yours."

She looked down at it as if she just noticed it for the first time, "Oh yeah."

She placed it down in her lap when she finished drinking it.

"See?" she said, "I didn't make any face, like you did, wussy. And I did it in one gulp. That's how you really do it." She winked at him.

Knuckles snorted, "Good for you, you're an alcoholic expert. Bravo."

Rouge ran her tongue over her teeth and lips, "I bet you can't do it," she said.

"It's not like it's that hard." Knuckles scoffed, in his usual stubborn fashion.

"Oh yeah? Prove it." she challenged, lifting the bottle and grinning.

Knuckles was quiet for a moment letting the thunder fill in the silence. Then he snatched it from her hands, the corner of his mouth lifting into a smile. "Fine," he said, untwisting the cap. "You're on."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I forgot to do one of these for the first chapter...but anyways...I don't own Rouge and Knuckles...they belong to SEGA.

Alright, now to the story...

* * *

After five cups, Knuckles noticed the room started to spin. It was fuzzy like a TV with a broken antenna. He and Rouge were leaning back against the solid wooden bed frame. Both had cups clutched loosely in one hand and Rouge was holding the vodka bottle in her other.

She turned her head towards him, "So, how are you feeling now Knuckles?"

"A little funny"

"You still tired?"

"Not really"

"That's good." Rouge said, smiling to herself. Being an experienced drinker, it took more than five cups to really get her blasted. She was feeling a little buzz and was craving to show him the time of his life still.

"Come on," she said, patting his leg and taking the paper cup from his hand, "You ready to have some of that fun for yourself?"

Before he could reply, she hopped off the bed and went over to her suitcase and rummaged around in it while Knuckles sat up slowly, holding his head and trying to balance out the room.

"Where are we…"he took a long breath and rubbed the back of his neck, "uhm…….going."

Rouge stood up, her hands clutched on a dress, "The bar in the basement of the hotel. We're going dancing."

"A bar?"

"Yes, just give me a moment to get dressed."

With her back turned to him, she slipped out of her usual black and pink outfit and into a red cocktail dress with a plunging neckline and a skirt that barely covered over her butt.

If Knuckles had been completely sober, he would've told her that she looked like a hooker, but as she turned back towards him, he looked her up and down, mouth gaping wide open.

"Wow, Rouge. You look……er, nice" he slurred.

Rouge knew that translated from drunk-speak, it meant, "Damn, I'd bang that in a heartbeat."

Exactly what she wanted.

"Thanks" she said as he grabbed his hand and pulled him off the bed. They walked towards the door.

_And it's all for you_.

* * *

With her arm hooked in his, Rouge led Knuckles out of the staircase and down the hallway of the hotel basement in direction of the bar. Taking a drunk Knuckles down stairs was a terrible idea. The whole way down he had tripped on each step and he laughed like a maniac each time it happened. Rouge had never seen this side of Knuckles and before it started to make her worry, it made her excited.

The music in the bar was loud and throbbing, and it was packed. There was local rapper performing and lots of people had come to hear him and were now moshing around the stage.

Guys sitting on the stools at the bar, as usual, stared at her ass as she passed by, but with Knuckles on her arm like a purse, they kept their distance.

She was walking straight into the center of the dance floor, when Knuckles tugged on her arm, "Wait Rouge," he said, "I can't do this. I can't dance."

She smiled gently, "Sure you can. This kind of music isn't hard to dance to at all. Just follow my lead."

"Isn't the guy supposed to lead?"

"Not always,"

Still feeling unsure, he let her drag him in.

The song had a fast and pumping beat that sent Knuckles' heart hammering against his ribcage. Rouge stopped in front of him and slowly snaked her arms around the neck, while twisting and grinding her hips into his. Using her hands, she guided his to her waist so he was holding onto her. Then she slid her hands down his chest and dipped her body and came back up so fast that Knuckles didn't have time to catch his breath.

They dirty danced like this for the next 10 songs. And they danced so hard, Knuckles felt like he was going to pass out. The music, the smell of sex and alcohol, and the bodies of strangers that were brushed up on all sides of them made him feel dizzy. Rouge sensed this and gripping onto his hand, she led him out of the bar. Both were sweating and ready to get out of their clothes.

* * *

"Ah ha! You made a face," Rouge declared, with a grin, "You lose again."

"That's no fair. I just got used to the other stuff!" Knuckles protested.

Back up in their room, they were lying on the bed, on their sides facing each other. Rouge offered Knuckles some of the Jack Daniels and they were taking turns sipping it while passing it between each other.

"Knuckles, whiskey is not that much different." She said, taking the bottle from him and raising it to her lips.

He watched her, "It is to me."

"Well, after you get used to both, you'll notice it."

They fell silent as Rouge swallowed the whiskey. The storm outside was no longer visible because of the darkness of the night, but they could hear the rain pattering against the windows.

Rouge was replaying the whole evening down at the bar in her mind, over and over again. Especially the moment when, Knuckles had buried his head into her shoulder and kissed the nape of her neck. She particularly remembered smelling him. He had a sweet and innocent smell almost like an infant. It made her regret telling him during their last meeting over the lava pit at the space station that echidnas stunk.

Well, most did, but he wasn't like them. Most guys she had messed around with before always smelled like they'd taken a plunge in a pool full of cologne. Bad cologne too. But Knuckles was different. It turned her on like crazy and the night was still young.

"So," she said, "What do you do while you're up there on Angel Island? All alone and no one to talk to…"

"Geez, Rouge. Could you make me sound anymore like a hermit?"

"Well, you miss out on lots of things,"

"Like what?"

"Like seeing your friends, hanging out, going out to bars to go dancing. And by the way, you're not as bad as you think."

Knuckles blushed, "Thanks. You were good too."

Smiling, Rouge scooted closer towards him, "I always am for the ones I really want."

The soft pink of his cheeks turned three more shades of red, "What ones?"

She twisted her fingers in his soft chest hair, "You, silly."

Then, without warning, she leaned over and pressed her lips against his. The room spun a full 360 degrees and Knuckles felt like he was floating on air. She put her hand on the back of his neck and pulled him in closer. As she slipped her tongue into his mouth, she could still taste the whiskey, but she didn't care. He was finally here with her, his body pressed up against hers and his arms, now wrapping around her as they plunged deeper into the mattress. She knew guiltily that he was drunk and probably wouldn't remember anything and if he did, would he be angry? But what guy would ever deny or be mad that he slept with a girl like her?

Bit by bit, she unbuttoned his shirt and holy crap! Knuckles had abs, like a freakin six pack! She'd never noticed them before. Then she sat up and raised her arms over her head, and she tugged her dress off.

She laid her body back onto his and he ran his hand along the soft S curve of her back until his fingers met the clasp of her bra strap. He hesitated at first but Rouge reached behind, and with her hand on top of his, unlatched it.

When their skin met it felt like the pieces of a puzzle coming together. But Rouge realized that one final piece was missing. Slowly, she pried Knuckles, boxers off and tossed them somewhere next to their other abandoned clothing on the floor while he brushed his lips over her neckline and ran them through the crevasse of her breasts.

All of a sudden, Rouge felt the urge for him to be inside of her and with one motion he was. A surge of electricity coursed through both of their bodies and it made every second more exhilarating .

Then after ten minutes, it was over and Knuckles was lying on his back, fast asleep, while Rouge rested her head on his chest. She laid awake, assuring herself that she had done the right thing and she was satisfied that she had finally captured her finest jewel.

Him.

--

**God...that was awful. I have never written a scene like that before! I hope it was alright and convincing! Plus, this isn't the last of it folks...there's more to come! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Oh crap

Those were the only two words running in circles around Rouge's head as she woke up the next morning. Although she didn't really want to, she had to force herself to peel away from Knuckles' limp sleeping body. She found this to be an extremely hard task since his arm had been wrapped around her as if she was his teddy bear. It was so freakin adorable that Rouge considered for a moment, skipping the meeting she had that morning, which was scheduled at the ungodly hour of eight o' clock.

But she didn't do it and quietly tiptoed to the bathroom to wash up and get changed.

When she was ready to leave, something started to bug her.

Should she leave a note? Or not? What would she say? Thanks for the wonderful one night stand, but now we gotta go back to our normal lives of hating each other's guts? Should she add some advice for treating hangovers? She sat down on the chair in the corner and quickly began to jot down a note for him on a piece of scrap paper. Then she stopped writing and looked up at him. He was lightly snoring through his nose, his arm still over the place where she'd once been, her body's light imprint still visible on the mattress.

She would return here for the rest of the week, because that's how long the stupid convention lasted, but she also knew that he would leave for his precious island as soon as he woke up.

With a strange pang of guilt ringing in her chest, she stood up, scooping up her purse and briefcase, and headed for the door. Then she crumpled the note in her hand and dropped it in the trashcan before closing the door quietly behind her.

* * *

_Taptaptap_

"Housekeeping?"

_Taptaptap_

Knuckles raised his head out of the pillow. The bright sun coming through the rectangular slot between the curtains stung his eyes. That wasn't the only thing that felt weird. His stomach was churning uncomfortably and his head had its own throbbing beat.

_Taptaptap_

"Housekeeping?" a small voice called out from behind the door.

Housekeeping? Where the hell was he? He sat up and swung his feet over the edge of the bed. Last night….the storm…hotel….Room 191….Rouge….thumping music...Rouge….it all came back and he immediately looked over his shoulder to the space next to him on the bed.

Rouge wasn't there, but her stuff was.

Oh yeah, he remembered, Business convention.

Slowly, he got to his feet and rubbing his eyes, pulled on his boxers and jeans, then tugged his tee-shirt over his head.

_Taptaptap_

He crossed the room to answer the door. A short, pudgy middle-aged mongoose stood in front of him out in the hallway. One hand was gripped on the cart full of cleaning supplies and stacks of clean towels and sheets.

"Mind if I come in dear?" she asked, snapping on her gum.

Knuckles blinked, "Uh, yeah. Sure," he stepped over to the side so she could come in, "I won't be here much longer so I'll be out of your way soon."

She waved her hand and began to drag herself inside the room, pulling the cart behind her. "No, no. Don't feel like I'm trying to chase you outta here. It'll be like I'm not even here."

Knuckles forced a weak smile. Suddenly, as he stood there, his gut lurched and it felt like the same sensation you feel when you ride the spinning teacups at an amusement park. Then, he spun around and ran into the bathroom to puke in the toilet.

Weird, he thought, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, I didn't think I drank that much last night. Maybe I'm coming down with something.

But he didn't want to stay there much longer, so he flushed the toilet and washed his mouth out, scrubbing his tongue with a wet washcloth until it went numb.

As he came out of the bathroom, he stood there overlooking the room, trying to decide if he should leave a note, unaware that Rouge had previously experienced this same dilemma.

The housekeeper looked over at him, as she stripped the bed and changed the sheets.

"Now, Hon," she said, "Pardon my nosiness but I could've sworn that there was a young lady in here yesterday."

"Yeah, there was," he sighed, "What should I do?"

"Do?"

"Should I leave a note? Or…"

"Lemme guess," She tossed the dirty sheets into the hamper attached to her cart, "It was an intimate night, right?"

He rubbed the back of his head, "I don't know, I can't really remember. I just wanted to know if you could give me some advice."

She smiled gently and spread out the new sheets on the bed, "Hon, do I look like a love doctor to you? My best advice would be to not take advice from cleaning ladies."

Knuckles backed up towards the door, "Right….Uh, Thanks for that great tip." he muttered sarcastically, just eager to get away from this place. Something still didn't feel right about him being there and he felt another dizzy spell coming on.

"No problem," he heard her chuckle as he walked out of the room and left the night that he and Rouge had spent, far behind him.

* * *

About a month and two weeks later, Rouge had soon started to push back the night at the hotel away from her memories. But it was difficult; there wasn't one day where she didn't find herself thinking of Knuckles. Dreaming of those soft, but strong arms and those amazing abs. Oh, those abs! Not only his body kept her captivated, it also was his "I don't give a crap what people think," attitude and his nervous but charming smile that entranced her.

But something was also bothering her. Recently, she felt like she was coming down with a bad case of the flu or food poisoning. She had been eating lots of Thai takeout while looking over her work papers in the evenings at her apartment. Maybe she had been overdoing the tangy foreign food.

One night, she was feeling bored and oddly wasn't feeling up to meeting some friends from work out to dinner or joining her girlfriends out to a night at the bar like she usually did.

So she decided to call up Amy. The two of them had recently got close when Rouge had started to take yoga and Amy was also in her class. Amy, still school-girl giddy over Sonic, had turned to Rouge for guy advice and they soon found that they could confide anything with each other.

"Hey Ame," Rouge said putting on her best cheerful voice, when Amy answered.

"Hey Rouge. What's shakin?"

"I don't know. Apparently my digestive system."

"What's that supposed to mean? Are you sick?"

Rouge bit her lip and sprawled out on her couch, "Nah, not really. Atleast I don't think so, it's been going on all month. Usually the flu ends after a week or so."

"Maybe, you should get it checked out," Amy replied.

"I was thinking about it, but I'm just not feeling myself lately."

"Aw, that's too bad. You probably just need a break. How about I call up Sonic and we'll arrange something like going out for dinner?" she suggested.

"That's great, Amy, but what's that got to do with me taking a break?"

"I meant everyone hanging out, not just me and him," she giggled.

"Oh. Who's 'everyone'?"

"Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, you, me…you know, the usual."

"Knuckles?"

"Yeah…do you have a problem with him, specifically?"

"No. It'll just be weird."

"Why?" Amy asked, her voice getting excited, "Did something happen with you two?"

"Yeah, actually, there was something…"

Then there was a slight pause.

"So…..are you going tell me?" Amy pressed.

"Yes, but Amy, you have to swear to say a word about this to anyone, okay?"

"Okay, okay, I swear. Now tell me…"

Rouge took a deep breath, "Me and Knuckles….we had sex."

At first, all Rouge could hear was Amy gasp, "Get out."

"No. I'm dead serious. It happened, like, a month ago."

"Oh my god. I can't believe it! How'd you talk him into it? I mean, you guys were enemies and all and he's just so quiet and reserved…"

"One word: alcohol."

"Oh, yeah. That helps out a bunch." Amy admitted.

"And, you wouldn't believe how amazing he is in bed."

"Well, the poor guy has to make up for going years without even touching a girl," Amy said.

"I guess that makes sense…"

"Wow, Rouge. I applaud you. So you guys obviously haven't been seeing each other on a regular basis?"

"Yeah, the last time I saw him was that night."

"Well, maybe you can use this dinner as a chance to hook up again."

"Maybe," Rouge said slowly, "Hey Amy, I'm gonna head to bed. I'm pooped out."

"Okay, I'll talk to you later Rouge,"

Then they hung up and as soon as Rouge laid the phone back down in the receiver, that sudden feeling hit her again. Kicking up from the couch, she ran across her apartment, all the way to the bathroom to get sick for the second time that day.

--

_Uh-oh...what's going on?? heehee. I know I got a little dialoge crazy in this chapter and there's not a whole bunch of action, but I'll start moving the plot forward in the next chapter. This was basically a set-up for the story...sort of..._

_Anyways...i'd like to know what you guys think so far!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Well, ladies and gentlemen, here it is...the main plot point..._

--

Finally, the next week, Rouge heeded Amy's advice and decided to go to the doctor during her lunch break at work. The only problem was the walking distance and she was too exhausted to even lift a wing. So she flipped her cell phone open and shuffled through all the names in her address book until she highlighted Sonic the Hedgehog's name. He was the only gang member who actually had a cell phone. Tails accidentally broke his and Amy ran up her phone bill so high that she's still working double overtime at the clothing retail store that is her most recent job. And Shadow and Knuckles? They could care less about technology.

Sonic picked up the phone after the first several rings. His voice sounded slightly winded.

"Yes?"

"Hey Sonic, this is Rouge. Is there any chance you could swing by my work and take me to the doctors?"

"Oh man," he said, "I'm sorry but there's this thing that's going on right now, that Tails and I can't miss. Shadow probably could, but I don't know where he is. And Knuckles," At the mention of his name, Rouge's heart turned over, "Well, I think he could do it. After all, he's got nothing else to do but sit and watch an inanimate object all day."

Rouge shifted her purse to the other shoulder, "Okay. That sounds fine. Could you pass that along to him for me then? Since I don't know how to reach him…"

"Yeah, no prob Rouge. I can take care of that."

Then she said a quick thanks and hung up.

* * *

The best thing to ever happen to Station Square was the Lynx. It was a little car that could run for many miles and go speeds up to 200mph. They could get you anywhere quick and this was extremely ideal for Rouge at the moment. By the time, Knuckles pulled up in one, a rental, her feet were killing her from just walking around at work. It didn't help that the heels on her boots were atleast five inches off the ground.

"Hey," she said, sliding into the passenger seat.

"Hi," was all he replied and then he shifted into drive and accelerated down the road.

They couldn't find any words to say to each other and Rouge could tell by the way Knuckles was tapping his fingers against the steering wheel that he was just as nervous as she was. And for the first time ever, Rouge felt flustered around a guy. Usually the guys she had been with before, she could easily conversate with, even after the "deed". But this was different. She couldn't even look at him without thinking back to That Night; his lips against hers and his hands caressing her body. It was like an ecstasy to her and it made her quiver.

"What's wrong? Are you cold?" Knuckles' voice broke through her thoughts like a rock shattering a window. She wasn't aware that she had actually physically trembled.

"What? Oh, no. I'm fine. Really." She tightened the grip on her purse and stared out the window.

"So, why are you going to the doctors?" he asked.

She shook her head, "Oh, it's probably nothing. Maybe just some food poisoning or slight stomach flu,"

"Ew"

"Hey!"

"I'm just kidding," he said, with a small laugh, "its probably bad karma from all your thieving years."

"If that's the case, it took awhile to get me. I haven't thieved since the ARK incident. Not since I've met you…" her voice trailed off at the end and she was afraid she had said too much.

Knuckles was quiet and she could feel him get more anxious than he already was.

"Rouge?"

She looked over at him.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about That Night and I think we should…" he began.

But he stopped himself as they pulled into the doctor's parking lot.

Rouge stared at the specs of dust in the windshield, "You think we should what?"

He shook his head and cut the engine, "Nevermind. We'll talk about it later,"

Almost immediately, as he glanced over at her, their eyes met as if she understood everything he was thinking. She placed her hand on top of his carefully and he sat very still as if this contact could kill him. But soon, he thawed out and upturned his palm and their fingers wove together.

"I'd like that, Knuckles," she whispered, "I really would. I've missed you."

* * *

On the list of things that Rouge really didn't like, doctors topped them all. They made her nervous, the way they poked and prodded your body like you were their lab rat or something. Which is the reason why she asked Knuckles, to join her in the room.

He'd been a little embarrassed at first but having him there comforted Rouge. Like nothing bad would happen with him around.

After she gave a urine sample, blood pressure, and other tests, she sat, on the patient bed that was always covered in gauze, swinging her feet from side to side. The doctor sat across from her on a small swivel chair and Knuckles was leaning up against the wall in the far corner, looking slightly bored.

The doctor was an older, grayer squirrel who was hard of hearing, which ticked Rouge off more.

"How long has this been going on? The vomiting?" he asked, adjusting his glasses.

She crossed her legs, "For about a few weeks,"

"Sorry?" he asked, cupping a hand to his ear, "What did you say, dear?"

"A couple weeks," she yelled.

"Okay, and it's happened atleast everyday?"

"Yes, sometimes twice in the same day," she replied coolly.

"Is it just vomiting? Have you recently had diarrhea? Or any other abnormal activity?"

Rouge felt her face warm up and she temporarily regretted bringing Knuckles in.

"No," she said.

"When was your last menstrual period?"

This stumped her. Knuckles began to flip through the brochures on diabetes and nicotine patches, pretending not to make his awkwardness obvious.

"Uh, I'm not sure."

"What?"

"I don't know,"

"What?!"

"Last month, is my guess," she finally said, frustrated.

"Could you give me a date?"

"Uh, around the 5th or 10th, I think."

He looked up at her, over the thick frames of his glasses, "It's the 28th today,"

"Oh uh…" but then, to her relief, a purple hedgehog nurse poked her head in the door, "Doctor," she said, "Could I see you out here for a moment?"

When he left, Rouge felt the weight of her heart drop and she snapped her head in Knuckles direction, "You are never ever to repeat any part of what happens in this room," she said.

"Deal," he said with a nervous laugh that made Rouge feel better.

The door opened again and the doctor stepped in, "Well," he began, closing the door behind him, "I think we've figured out what's going on with you."

He was slightly smiling, Rouge didn't know what it meant and she couldn't decide whether it was good with her results or something funny the nurse told him in the hallway.

She sat up straighter, mentally prepping herself, "Yeah?"

Then suddenly he turned to Knuckles, who looked startled.

"I forgot to ask before, but are you her husband?"

Knuckles' eyes grew wider and the color drained from his face. Rouge answered for him, "No, we're just friends."

"Oh. Well it's very nice to meet you, uh…"

"Knuckles," Knuckles squeaked as the doctor shook his hand.

"Yes, Knuckles. You're a good sport son,"

Confused, Knuckles looked over at Rouge who cleared her throat, "So, um, doc, you were saying?"

He turned to her and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "Well, according to this vomiting problem you've been having and results from the test you just taken," he paused a moment before he added with a smile, "Rouge, you're pregnant."

All of a sudden, there was a loud thud.

Knuckles had passed out.

* * *

"I'm so sorry. I didn't really expect this to happen," Rouge said, her voice so small and quiet.

"Oh no, dear, don't worry about it. It's happened before,"

Knuckles opened his eyes and saw Rouge and the hedgehog nurse leaning over him. His head was resting in Rouge's lap and the nurse was fanning him and wiping his forehead with a wet washcloth.

He looked up at Rouge, "Wha…what just happened?"

"You blacked out after the doctor told me I was pregnant,"

Knuckles didn't answer and closed his eyes like he was going to pass out again.

The nurse handed the cloth to Rouge, "I'll give you two a moment," she whispered, then turned and left.

"Knuckles?" Rouge said, "Say something. Please."

After awhile he finally spoke, "It's mine isn't it?"

"Yes,"

More silence before he said in a voice so soft, Rouge wasn't sure if she was supposed to hear it, "We're having a baby?"

"Yeah,"

"Oh my god," He lifted his head from her lap and sat up.

Rouge didn't say anything and watched as he stood up and began to pace the room.

"Shit!" he yelled, almost loud enough for people in the next room over to hear.

"Knuckles," she sighed, "It was an accident! When you said that night, that you were a virgin, I thought maybe-"

"-you thought what? I don't even know what the hell a virgin is! So, is being one bad or good?"

Rouge sank lower in her seat. She felt like crying, mostly because she'd never seen Knuckles look so panicked and angry.

"It depends," she said.

"In this case..?"

"Look, I only wanted to do this for you. And that night when you told me you loved me, I thought it was the right thing to-"

Again, he interrupted her, his facial expression a little bit softer, "-I said I loved you?"

"Yes, while we were…doing it."

"How come I don't remember this then?" he grumbled, throwing his arms in the air, "All I can remember was the vodka shots and…." Then he stopped.

"Knuckles…"

"I was drunk, the whole time wasn't I?"

"Yes, but-"

He pretended like he didn't hear her say anything, "Oh right, so you got me drunk so you could have kinky sex with me? Is that really what love is to you?"

When he said this, Rouge stood up, her face twisted with annoyance. "You," she snarled, "don't know the first thing about what it means to me and you didn't have to take those extra shots! I told you to only do one!"

Both stood there, out of words and out of breath.

"Knuckles," Rouge said, "We could work on this." She reached out for his arm but he stepped back and brushed her off.

"No. You just can't stand the fact that this time, the guy isn't drooling over you and you're not getting what you want." Then he added, "I don't love you Rouge."

The words stung like a thousand darts thrown at the bull's eye in her heart.

She stepped back away from him, "Oh right, so instead you're in love with that fuckin' rock," she said coldly, "What are you afraid of Knuckles?"

He clenched his jaw and looked her square in the eye. Then he shook his head and without even answering, left her standing there in the examination room by herself.

The nurse rushed up to Rouge and took her arm, trying to comfort her.

"I'm sorry," Rouge said, her eyes watering as she watched the red echidna stomp down the hallway, "It's just-"

"It's okay, sweetheart," the nurse said softly, handing her a tissue, "It happens all the time."

--

_Well, I think the majority of you knew what was coming...but did I atleast surprise you with his reaction? heehee. Uh, I know this was a huge monster chapter, but I'm going on vacay and I figured this was the best way to do it, so you guys won't forget about it while I'm gone! I will be very very heartbroken if you do...:D. As always, I'd like to hear your comments and suggestions and other fantastic feedback!! __P.s. to all the guys out there, I'm sorry about all the "girly" lingo..._


	5. Chapter 5

Knuckles pushed past nurses and the reception desk and past the double doors of the doctor's office and got in the rental car. He sat there for a second and in that one moment everything started to come back to him. Memories flooded into his brain and he knew that this was real and it was going to happen.

How could he be so stupid? He never should have let Rouge get to him. Why didn't he just sleep on the couch in the lobby or the hallway? This made him angrier and he couldn't think of anything else better to do but go to Sonic's.

The whole way there he kept the radio cranked up to full volume. And while it scared pedestrians strolling along the sidewalks, it aloud Knuckles to ride without thinking of Rouge and the baby. He nearly swerved off the road when that word came to him.

The baby.

It was _his_ child.

And there was no way in hell was he ready to be some kid's dad. He didn't even think about the fact that he had just taken off in Rouge's only ride until he pulled up next to Sonic's place. Oh well, he thought, she has plenty of other friends to take care of her.

* * *

"She used me, Sonic! I can't believe it!" Knuckles yelled as he paced the scale of Sonic's kitchen.

Sonic cracked open the lid of a french onion chip dip.

"I can't believe your telling me all this," he said.

Knuckles frowned and reached for a potato chip, "Why? I talk to you all the time."

Sonic shook his head and walked to his refrigerator to get a couple cans of soda, "Not about this kind of stuff," He handed one to Knuckles, "So there has to be something more to it except the fact that you and Rouge had one night together, stuck in a hotel."

He placed his soda down, "Okay, I think if I try hard. I might be able to put this all together. I mean, how hard could it be? You did it."

Knuckles opened his mouth to yell but Sonic interrupted him and kept talking, "So…..you and Rouge wind up together in a hotel room, which is weird to begin with. Then, she gives you alcohol. You get all loopy. She pounces at you and you guys get freaky. So, I guess the only things that can come out of that are either pregnancy or STDs."

Then he froze and his mouth gaped open, "Oh god," he said, "Knuckles, you have AIDS,"

Knuckles' brows furrowed together, "Sonic….I don't have AIDS,"

But Sonic wasn't convinced, "Yes. Yes you do. Don't deny it Knuckles. It's okay to admit it,"

"Sonic, for the second time, I don't have AIDS,"

A loud clang came from the entryway to the kitchen and Tails stood there, the metal gadget he had been carrying in his hand dropped on the floor and his mouth in the same O shape as Sonic's.

"What?" he squeaked, "What did you do? Who did you get it from?"

Knuckles closed his eyes and tilted his head back, "Someone shoot me," he muttered.

"Don't give up too quickly. They have treatment for AIDS, right?" Sonic babbled on.

Then something in Knuckles snapped, "Sonic!" he bellowed, "Rouge is pregnant!"

The word bounced around the kitchen area and echoed off the walls, and both Sonic and Tails stared at him.

"Holy shit," Sonic croaked.

More silence passed between them and Knuckles started to breath heavily through his nose. It was the first time he'd admitted something as personal as that to anyone.

"So," Tails said in a hushed tone, "You don't have AIDS?"

Knuckles shook his head and sank down at the kitchen table, "I wish I did. Instead of this."

"Well, a kid isn't so bad. I mean, it's not the end of the world," Sonic pointed out.

"Easy for you to say," Knuckles murmured.

Tails sat down across from him, "You sure it's definitely yours?"

Knuckles nodded, "Yeah. Unless she slept with someone else after me,"

Sonic started to chuckle, "If that's the case, you could go on one of those maternity test shows on Daytime TV. Like Maury or Jerry Springer." Both Knuckles and Tails looked up at him with perplexed expressions on their faces, "Then, topless chicks would wrestle over you," Sonic added, before bursting into a fit of laughter.

Knuckles stood up quickly, "That's it. I'm leaving."

Sonic followed him to the door, "Come on Knuckles! I was only joking!"

But Knuckles left anyways, slamming the door behind him.

Sonic turned back to Tails who was still sitting at the table.

"You thought it was funny, right?" he asked the orange fox.

Tails shrugged, "Not really," he said, "You really pissed him off,"

Sonic rolled his eyes, "What's new?" he muttered as he sat down in the seat Knuckles had been sitting in.

"It just seems so hard to believe,"

"What?" Sonic said dipping another chip into the dip, "That a hot chica like Rouge slept with a party pooper like Knuckles?"

"Well yeah, that. But also the fact that they show that sort of stuff on Daytime TV."

"Yes, I know," Sonic said patting Tails on the back, "All the reason why we don't plug the TV in until after six."

* * *

After Rouge scheduled several follow-up appointments with the doctor and had been abandoned by Knuckles at the doctor's office, she had nowhere else to go. She didn't feel like going back to work so she called in sick for the rest of the day. Plus, there was no sort of transportation around and she had to resort to taking the bus.

Stupid Knuckles, she thought as she sat on the bumpy and jerky city bus. What a fucking a-hole. Who needs him? She knew that she really didn't mean that. But it was hard to watch him walk away from her and it was painful to hear him say those horrific words.

_I don't love you Rouge._

Holding back tears, she stumbled off the bus at the next stop and went into a coffee shop.

Going in didn't really help anything. There was a stupid zit-faced teenage waiter that was hitting on her and the coffee tasted awful.

She sat at a booth by herself and gently put one hand on her stomach.

One part of Rouge was so happy to be having Knuckles' child, another part was terrified. To think that there was now a living and breathing organism growing inside of her was so insane. But what could she do? Knuckles is angry at her and she never in her life had felt so alone and small.

Teardrops rolled down her cheeks and landed in her mug of coffee, sending ripples in the dark liquid.

"Rouge?" a voice that came from above her made her jump.

It was Shadow. The jet-black hedgehog stood there before her.

Rouge wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, "Shadow? What are you doing here?"

"I was just passing by this shop and saw you in the window. You seemed upset," he said sliding into booth across from her, "And it turns out that I'm right. So what's wrong?"

"It's just been a bad day."

"Same here! You know that at least once everyday, there are people who still run up to me, thinking I'm Sonic? I mean, come on people! He's blue and I'm black,"

"That sucks," she said quietly.

"I can't stand humans," he murmured and then flagged down the waiter to order something.

"_I_ can't stand echidnas," she said, "Especially the extra stubborn ones,"

Shadow looked over at her, "You mean Knuckles?"

"Who else would I be talking about?"

At that moment the waiter approached the table and Shadow ordered a coffee for himself.

After the waiter left again, he resumed his questioning, "So, something's definitely up with you. Did the waiter give you decaf instead of regular?"

"No,"

"Then what is it?"

Rouge closed her eyes and massaged her temples, "It's complicated."

"Being confused on your own identity is complicated. So, I'm well equipped to understand your so-called complication," he challenged.

"Ok, fine. Shadow," she took a deep breath, "I'm going to have a baby,"

His eyebrows shot up to the roof, "No shit. How'd this happen?"

"I had sex,"

"Well, no dip Rouge, I figured that one out," he said.

"Yeah, well…..I had sex with Knuckles,"

Shadow nearly choked on his coffee that he had just sipped down, "You did what?"

"You heard me,"

"Does he know about the baby?"

"Oh yeah," she mumbled, "He knows alright and-"

"-he went nuclear, right?"

Rouge sank down in her seat, "Worse,"

"Why? Did he blame it all on you or something?"

"Well, it _is_ mainly my fault," she said, pouring more creamer into her coffee, "I got him drunk."

Shadow grinned, "Good move,"

"No, bad move. A sober Knuckles' has pretty decent judgment and he wouldn't have ever agreed to it,"

They didn't say anything for awhile and sipped on their coffee while people passed by the window.

Then Shadow looked up at her, "Have you considered abortion?"

Rouge's eyes widened, "No. Absolutely not,"

"What about adoption?"

"It's my child Shadow! I'll want it somewhere along the road, but just not now. Knuckles is the one who doesn't want it at all. Especially not with me," she added, holding back tears.

"What? What makes you think that?" Shadow asked, "Knuckles isn't that cold-hearted."

Rouge crossed her arms and watched a busy waitress balance a heavy tray in her arms, "You weren't there when he told me he didn't love me," she whispered.

"Knuckles is the only guy I actually loved," she continued, "And ironically, he's the one to reject me."

"Well, Rouge. No teenage guy wants to hear that their girl is pregnant, believe me."

"I understand that, but then again, I can't do this alone. And before, we found out, he was willing to talk about it. I took his hand and it was one of those moments when you think things will get better…But then bam! I'm pregnant. And Knuckles goes berserk and he just walks out. Just like that."

Shadow nodded, "I know Knuckles tends to do things in a different way than everyone else, but if I was in this situation, I'd probably flip out too," he said slowly, "But eventually, I'd come around and I'd realize that you need me now more than ever. And trust me Rouge, in a matter of time, Knuckles will too."

--

_ughhhhh...I just got back from an awesome vacation and had to return to my regular boring life so I'm dragging a little. This chapter is probably the weakest one and it didn't have a great ending. My head wasn't really into it but I did want to update as soon as I could because you guys have been so gracious with comments and reviews. Thanks again and I promise better chapters to come! :)_


	6. Chapter 6

Amy Rose was taking her usual walk through town as she made her way to her work. She liked to get ready and leave her apartment extra early so she could take her time and window shop at the various clothing boutiques along the way. That's when she noticed the first odd thing that day. As she was gazing at this cute blue dress that reminded her of the color of her hero Sonic, she turned around, only to see Rouge and Shadow leaving the coffee shop together that was farther up ahead from where Amy was standing.

She thought of running up to them and saying hello, but she held back and decided instead to just observe them. Shadow waved down a taxi for Rouge and then held the door open as she climbed inside. Shadow put his hands in the pockets of his jacket while he watched the taxi take off down the street and then crossed the road and walked in another direction.

Amy didn't know what to think of it. Rouge had always said she had a thing for Knuckles, so why was she having coffee with Shadow? Especially since earlier this afternoon, Rouge had called and told her that she was pregnant and started crying over the argument she and Knuckles had in the doctors office. At first Amy was so overwhelmed with shock over the fact Rouge was pregnant with Knuckles' baby, but then after she thought about what Rouge had told her a few days ago about the night at the hotel, it seemed pretty obvious that having a baby was the case. She was sure that Rouge would have a good explanation for this meeting with Shadow and decided to keep on walking.

Then, she came across odd thing #2 as she was passing by the local park. It was Knuckles sitting there on a bench alone with his head buried in his hands.

It was really rare to see the red echidna around the city and especially rare to see him without the green emerald in his background, so she skipped over towards him.

"Hey Knuckles!" she said cheerfully.

He looked up with startled eyes, and then when he saw it was only her, they dimmed again.

"Oh, hi Amy," he mumbled.

She plopped down next to him on the bench, "What are you doing here?"

"I uh…I needed to clear my mind for awhile."

"You chose an interesting place to do it," she said with a laugh, motioning to the bustling city streets.

"Yeah, I guess."

She knew that you had to be careful to what you say to Knuckles because he could take things the wrong way and get mad about it. So she was cautious about conversating about the obvious issue.

"Rouge is pretty upset," she said slowly.

Knuckles didn't say anything.

"She told me about your little "oopsy"…" she continued.

"Oopsy?"

Amy nodded, "Yeah. That and your little scat in the doctor's office."

Knuckles sighed, "Amy, you know I tend to let some words slip out that I really don't mean, right?"

His response surprised her so much that she found herself at a loss of words. But she didn't need to say anything because he kept talking, "Especially when I'm upset or confused, or scared."

"You? Scared?" Amy said.

Knuckles twiddled his thumbs together, "Well, hell yeah. She's having my baby, for crying out loud. I'm gonna be a dad! It's kinda weird."

"Yeah, but the two of you can't do this on your own." she pointed out.

Knuckles looked down at his hands, "But she hates my guts, Amy. I was a total ass to her," he muttered, "She probably won't even talk to me…"

"Well, you're possibly right about that," Amy said, "but she will listen."

She glanced at her little pink wristwatch and when she realized what time it was, she began to stand up.

"Knuckles," He looked up at her, "A baby isn't just a 'his-or-her' sort of thing. It's both of yours. You and Rouge need each other now whether you like it or not."

Then she gave him a small smile and skipped away, continuing on her way to work leaving Knuckles sitting there on the bench contemplating about every word of truth she just had spoken.

* * *

Another month had passed since Knuckles' conversation with Amy and as he sat on the stone steps of the altar on Angel Island, he thought of it more and more. Diving into each word she had said and letting them sink in.

_…But she'll listen._

He sighed and turned around to look at the great shiny jewel that he for so long had been watching over.

He remembered his own father standing behind him, years ago, a hand planted on his shoulder as both echidnas gazed up at the emerald.

"This," his father had said, "will someday be your duty as well, son. A job that has been passed down through all your ancestors. You must honor it with pride."

Knuckles, then a nervous age of 9, who had recently been through his parents' hard divorce had listened to his father's every word.

When he was 13 and nearly at the end of his training, his father had finally said those words to Knuckles that he had for so long waited to hear, "Son, you're ready."

Throughout all the years that Knuckles had been sitting here, performing this sacred task, thoughts about being the one to kill the family name because he would never get to meet a mate, and other thoughts of eternal isolation darkened his hopes of ever leaving this altar.

And now, he sat, knowing that he had defied these feelings and that someday, he will be able to pass on the family name to this child of his. But at what price? Perhaps he and Rouge did get together again. Then the first words that Knuckles mentions of training, Rouge will be persistent on not letting it happen. It will be a repeat of his past. His mother and father screaming at each other, for hours on end, while he crouched in the dark corner of his room, rocking back and forth and silently crying. What if that same child that he was, sitting in the dark, turned out also to be his own? This thought scared him and he was torn between the two.

Having the baby, staying with Rouge, and then train the kid with confrontation from Rouge…

Or, having the baby, apart from Rouge, then train kid without confrontation from Rouge…

It seemed like both options eventually led up to a separation between he and Rouge.

But this was all he had known. What if Rouge accepted it? The whole guardianship thing? Besides, he was making early assumptions, which was wrong. Maybe Rouge would be fine with it. Or would she be on Knuckles' mother's side? Who had thought it was wrong for a kid to waste his life watching over some inanimate object.

By the time dusk had settled in, the chirping of the crickets and a light nighttime breeze surrounding him, Knuckles was in serious need of an aspirin.

His head really hurt.

* * *

"I don't know what to tell you Rouge," Amy said, stretching out her legs.

Rouge rolled out her yoga mat and sat down next to her, "Well," she said, "What else did he say?"

"All he told me was that he felt terrible about what he said to you in the doctor's office and that he was scared."

"Scared?"

"About the baby..."

It had been awhile since the two girls had seen each other but always had their yoga classes to catch up on things. Amy was telling Rouge all about her run-in with Knuckles that one day in the city park.

Rouge raised her arms over her head to stretch them out. Amy watched her carefully.

"Should you be doing this?" she asked her.

"Why wouldn't I be doing it?"

"I don't know, I just thought because your now almost 3 months pregnant..."

"I don't think simple arm stretches aren't going to hurt anything," Rouge insisted.

Amy just raised her eyebrows and bent over to touch her toes.

"So," Rouge said, "He said he wanted to talk to me?"

Blowing back a stray strand of hair from her face, Amy sat up again, "Who?"

"Knuckles. Did he want to talk to me?"

"I'm not sure,"

Rouge sighed and laid back on the mat. Amy gazed at her for awhile.

"What?" Rouge said, slightly irritated.

"I think the baby bump's already coming in." Amy whispered before giggling.

"Huh?" Rouge sat up to look for herself when the yoga instructor, a tall and lean silver cat, approached her.

She crouched down in front of Rouge, "Hon, I couldn't help overhearing something about a baby bump?"

Rouge nodded and gave a small weak grin, "Yeah, I'm almost three months,"

"Wow," the cat said, "Congrats on that. But I'm afraid that I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Rouge's face dropped, "What?"

"Don't take it the wrong way, but I'm afraid some of these exercises could be too difficult for you." The cat added with a sheepish smile, "But you will be welcome back after the baby is born…"

Rouge glanced around at all the other women around her that were watching. She noticed how all their legs were pencil thin and their stomachs flattened. Recently Rouge had noticed a significant change in her own weight. She had gained almost five pounds and her ankles were beginning to swell. Soon, she would look nothing like these women that she had worked so hard to be like.

She nodded at the cat, who patted her shoulder and walked away, then rolled her mat up and stuffed it into her duffel bag.

She kept her eyes down as she side-stepped past all the women on their mats on the floor and finally walked out through the wide double doors out of the studio. She was on the elevator and just about to press the 1st floor button while she heard Amy's voice yell after her, "Rouge! Wait for me! I'm coming too."

The pink hedgehog came scurrying down the hall towards her, her duffel bag hanging loosely on her shoulder, and then made it just before the doors of the elevator shut.

"Hey," she said, slumping against the walls, "You didn't think I would just let you walk out alone, did you?"

Rouge shook her head, "Amy, you don't have to."

"I know, but I want to. Plus, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't?"

Rouge gave her a quick hug, "Thanks Ame. You're the best. Really."

"Of course I am. But on the way out, you have to tell me about what Shadow told you,"

Rouge pulled away, "Shadow?"

"Yeah. I saw you guys come out of the coffee shop together. Remember? It was the day you found out about the baby…"

"Oh, yeah," Rouge said, "Now I remember…"

"So, spill."

And so the whole trip down the elevator and waiting outside at the bus stop, Rouge told her everything Shadow had told her.

"Wow," Amy said, as the bus pulled up along the curb. "That was really sweet of him to tell you those things."

"I know, but what made it strange was the fact it came from Shadow."

"Well, who knows? If Knuckles doesn't decide to grow any balls soon and come apologize to you, maybe you could hook things up with Shadow."

"I don't think so. Shadow's not exactly my type," Rouge said, "And besides, Knuckles already has those. I know that for a fact,"

Amy made a face and lightly slapped her friend on the shoulder, "That's sick."

But Rouge started to laugh and placed one hand on her stomach, "Exhibit A," was all she said, before they both climbed up on the bus and headed home.

--

_Okay…I'm sorry if anyone gets confused on this part about the little internal conflict going on with Knuckles. Basically, I'm going with the plot from the comic series about his father and mother getting divorced over Knuckles being the guardian of the master emerald. __So...the main point is Knuckles doesn't want his child to live in a broken family like he had to. And he isn't sure on his relationship with Rouge. Plus, he doesn't think Rouge will be very happy about the guardianship thing and this is a conflict because Knuckles has to pass on his role as guardian to his kid. _

_I know. It's awfully confusing. But it's not really a big issue in the story. So don't worry about it, if you're super confused. This is Knuckles going through an epiphany…sorta. There will be more Knouge action! I swear!_

_Ok. I'll stop talking now…blah. Don't hate me. I just have a very strange way of thinking...Anyways, keep on reading and reviewing! _:)


	7. Chapter 7

Two young teenage echidnas stood before Knuckles as he read down a list of all the instructions they needed to know about the master emerald and gave them Sonic's number in case there was an emergency. He would have given them Rouge's, because that's where he was heading, but he couldn't really remember her number.

The one boy, who was a darker shade of red, shook his head at Knuckles, "Hey man, you don't need to flip out, we've done this before. We got this place covered."

"I know, it's just, anything can go wrong while I'm gone."

"Where are you going?" the other teenager asked.

"That is none of your business."

"If you're going to Sonic's, could you get an autograph for my kid sister? She really wants one."

Knuckles rolled his eyes, "Sure, whatever," he said, then started to walk away, but stopped and turned back towards them, "Oh and if I come back and there's one piece of emerald missing…..your asses are dead meat."

* * *

As Knuckles glided slowly towards Station Square, thoughts raced through his mind a mile a minute; what the hell was he doing?

Was he doing this for him? Maybe.

Was he doing this for his ancestors? Maybe.

Was he doing this for the baby? Maybe.

But was he doing it for he and Rouge? This question baffled him as he found the nearest telephone booth and looked up the address for Rouge's apartment.

* * *

The sound of light knocking at her apartment door at 8:00 in the evening startled Rouge because she hadn't been anticipating any visitors. She laid down her Pregancy: For Dummies book and ran to answer the door.

When she opened it and saw who it was, she had to hold herself up against the doorframe.

"Hey," Knuckles said. His cheeks were slightly pink and his dreadlocks were in a mess.

She stepped stiffly to the side to let him in.

"Hi," she said coldly.

She fell back against the door as it closed. It was a tense stand-off. There stood in front of her, was the very echidna Rouge had the desire to leap on and passionately make-out with, but at the same time, wanted to give him a good kick in the groin.

He rubbed the back of his head nervously, "So….how have you been?"

"Pregnant," she said, "Still." She crossed her arms over her chest, "How about you? You still being a douche bag? Or have you finally come around?"

Knuckles closed his eyes and sighed. "Look Rouge," he began, then let a brief moment of pause pass before he said, "I'm sorry."

Rouge's arms dropped to her side, "You're…..sorry?"

"Yeah, I felt like a real jerk after I blew up on you. It was wrong to say those things, especially then."

She frowned, "Yeah. It was real nice to be humiliated like that in front of the entire doctor's office. So I thank you for that," she said irritably.

"I know. You have every reason to be mad at me,"

"Damn right, I do."

Knuckles looked up at her and the expression on his face shocked Rouge. He almost looked genuinely sorry.

"Well," he muttered, "what else could I say to convince you that my apology is sincere and that…" he hesitated, "I really want a second chance with you?"

She narrowed her eyes and looked away shaking her head and not saying anything.

Knuckles sighed, "Fine. At least I tried."

He turned to go but was stopped when he heard a soft voice whisper, "Wait…don't go."

Rouge walked towards him and the two faced each other.

"Take my hand," she said.

"What?"

"Take my hand,"

"Why?"

She sighed, "Just do it,"

He slowly reached over and grabbed her hand. To Knuckles, it seemed like his gloved hand was huge compared to her small and slender fingers.

But she lightly directed it to her stomach, right on the spot of her baby bump. Knuckles face flushed bright red and he was embarrassed to be touching her this way and Rouge knew why because he was incomprehensible, the last time he did.

They stood there for the longest time, in that same position and it seemed like in that one moment, the tension just melted away.

"Do you think you can handle all of this?" Rouge asked him. But at the same time, was also asking herself.

Knuckles nodded, "I think so,"

"Thank you for apologizing,"

Yeah, she knew that was really lame to say, but all other words were failing her.

"You're welcome," he replied.

Then she fell into his arms, which took Knuckles by surprise, until finally he closed his arms around her in a tight embrace, the baby stationed right in the middle, between them.

The rest of the night, Knuckles stayed with Rouge and they watched old rerun episodes of Cops. In between each commercial break, Rouge glanced over at Knuckles to make sure he was still there. She had expected him every 15 minutes or so to all of a sudden take off running. But now that he was here, she didn't want him to leave her again. His face was unreadable as he stared at the screen, the blue glow of the TV reflected in his eyes and he was holding his arm stiffly to his side.

It had been a long night of awkward silences and pauses. That was because Rouge wanted to ask him why he had returned to her. But she was also afraid that he would get upset about it and they would get into an argument. She was sure it was guilt that brought him back but she knew, since it was Knuckles, there had to be something more.

"I'm going to go get some drinks," she announced as a commercial selling Pepto-Bismal came on, "Do you want something?"

"Anything but alcohol," he replied.

She laughed nervously and stood up, using the coffee table as a support, "Yeah," she said, "I know."

He gave her a small grin, before she turned and walked down the hallway to the kitchen. She pulled two glasses out of a cupboard and walked to the refrigerator to get out a pitcher of ice tea. Carefully, she poured some in both cups and as she spun around to carry them back to the living room, she saw Knuckles standing there behind her.

"Oh my god, Knuckles," she said, "You scared the shit out of me."

He smiled, "Just making sure you weren't trying to pull one on me,"

She rolled her eyes and held out the glass to him, "Here, check it out for yourself smart-ass. It's just a plain ole cup of ice tea. It's perfectly harmless."

He laughed as he took the glass from her, then followed her back to the living room.

"Besides," Rouge said as she sat down, "It wouldn't matter if I got you drunk or not. I could still lure you into bed with me,"

"If you think I would give in that easily, you're wrong."

She took a sip, "That sounded like a challenge,"

"Maybe it was," he said.

"Need I remind you of your unfortunate loss at the last challenge you made?"

Knuckles rolled his eyes, "Har, har."

"If I wasn't already pregnant, I'd so do it and I would win."

He laughed, "You can't have sex while you're pregnant?"

"I think so…"

"Google it,"

It was Rouge's turn to laugh, "Knuckles, you crack me up."

"Why?"

"It almost sounds like you want me to do it."

The blush crept up Knuckles' neck, "Well…uh…"

"Because," Rouge continued, "You know you would lose."

"No I wouldn't."

"Come on. Give it up, Knuckles."

"What? My virginity?" he shot back, "I think I already did."

Rouge blinked, "I thought you didn't know what a virgin was…"

"I've been doing my research,"

She smiled, "Oh. So, what else have you learned?"

"Smirnoff isn't the strongest kind of vodka."

"Apparently, it was for you."

"Gimmie a break! It was my first time!"

He noticed how close she had gotten to him. But she kept asking him mindless question that really didn't matter. And while she did this, she had gotten on all fours and crawled over to where he was sitting.

She climbed up on his lap and lightly pressed her lips against his collarbone and brushed them along his jawline. That same fuzzy and warm feeling that hit him That Night, was back.

"Rouge," he whispered as he let each sweet kiss sink into his skin.

She ignored him and kept on questioning him, "So," she said, "You say you can't remember anything from that night at the hotel?"

Knuckles fought to keep his eyes open, "Pretty much everything that happened after the whiskey…"

She smiled, "Well, maybe this could re-jog your memory."

Then, at that, their lips met.

Damn, Knuckles thought as Rouge slipped her tongue into his mouth, How does she do it?"

When they broke off, Rouge buried her head into his shoulder and tilted her chin up to whisper lightly in his ear, "See? You would definitely lose. Again."

* * *

The next morning when Knuckles woke up, he noticed Rouge laying next to him on the carpet floor of her living room. Their arms and legs were tangle of limbs.

The soft yellow light from the sun that was still making its rise above the city, came through the window and he knew it was still early in the morning.

He sat up slowly, careful not to wake her. He had all the intentions of immediately returning to his emerald, and began to leave but stopped himself to look back at the sleeping figure of Rouge.

His heart started to race as he watched her. Then he got an idea. He scooped her up into his arms and laid her down on the couch, then draped a blanket over her. She moved around slightly but still didn't wake.

After he was done, he leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. Then, feeling slightly dizzy, he got up and left.

--

_I think I owed all of you guys a little more Knouge action. But this is the part of the story that always worries me because Knuckles seems so out of character and it's hard to keep it realistic. But oh well, I guess that's why it's called fanfiction. Anyways...a bunch of stuff is coming up soon and they will be together a lot more. :) See ya!_


	8. Chapter 8

Over the next couple months, Rouge had been taking at least one day each week to visit Knuckles on Angel Island. She loved going up to see him and even though, every week it seemed like she was getting bigger, she flew up anyways.

As for Knuckles, at first it was real weird for him to look up and all of a sudden see Rouge, dropping in from above. Usually she would sit down by him on the steps and they would talk, well, mainly Rouge telling him stories from work and about numerous clients that she's had. But soon, Knuckles grew accustomed to these weekly visits and suddenly found himself missing her as he sat alone, on the altar. During that time, he would close his eyes and imagine Rouge sitting right next to him. Her head rested on his shoulder, and then when she came and actually did it, it felt like an empty space that was being filled in like a perfect fit. Like a puzzle piece.

He had never been so close to anyone before, like he was with Rouge. Even more than Sonic and Tails, who had known him since the years way before Knuckles knew Rouge existed. And the first time Knuckles had met Rouge, he never would have guessed that she would be the one carrying his kid or she would be the one to finally find a place in his heart. She was special, in a weird 'opposites attract' sort of way. When there was silence, she filled it with giggles or another one of her stories. When there turmoil going on in his mind, she kissed him and made it go away. In a way, it seemed like they were meant for each other. And even if he wasn't really head over heels in love with her yet, he was well on his way. This surprised Knuckles more than anything. She was –as of right now- like a long lost best friend to him that had been missing for way too long.

* * *

One day, he was waiting for her, but it began to get later than the time she usually arrived. He tried not to think too much into it, so he laid back against one of the pillars and dozed off.

About an hour later, Rouge approached the altar, and saw the guardian in the soft green glow of the emerald, slouched over, and fast asleep. She smiled and as her wings folded, she walked over towards him. She stood over him, just watching his chest raise and lower with each breath.

After awhile, he still didn't stir, so she sat down next to him and leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek which finally made his eyes flutter open.

"Good morning princess," she giggled, brushing a stray dreadlock away from his face.

"Rouge? When did you get here?"

She couldn't help to think how cute he looked when his voice was raspy like that and his messy red dreadlocks frizzed out in every direction.

She leaned back on her palms, "Oh, just five minutes ago."

Her eyes floated over to the emerald.

"I see the master emerald has been heavily guarded this evening," she said with a sly smile.

Knuckles rubbed his eyes, "Well, it got along just fine without me, didn't it? I mean, the island is still floating and all."

"I'd almost prefer if it wasn't. Flying up here almost killed me." She looked down at her stomach which had been stretched out another several inches. "After all, I am-"

"-5 months, I know."

Rouge just stared at him.

Knuckles' cheeks flushed pink, "I've been keeping count," he admitted.

That touched Rouge and she had to force herself to hold back tears, "For real? How do you-?"

He stood up, "Come on, I'll show you," Then held out a hand to her and led her down the stairs towards the forest. They were about to enter when Rouge stopped and looked back at the emerald, "But….what about the emerald?" she asked.

He waved his hand, "Nevermind that. It'll be fine. This will only take a second."

As soon as he said it, he couldn't believe it. Did he actually just say that? It was the first time he put a person or anything else in front of the emerald. And before he could start to change his mind, she smiled at him and they continued into the forest.

They navigated through the bushes and thick trunks of trees, until Knuckles finally stopped by one and pointed to it.

"That's how," he said as Rouge squinted at it. There, carved in the bark, were deep grooves that were keeping a tally of the days, "I've been doing it everyday since the day we found out. It's probably off by a couple days but I can still tell and…..Rouge?"

He looked over at her only to see her standing there, small tears trickling down her face.

He took her hand, "What's wrong?"

"I-I….I didn't know you cared this much," she wiped her eyes, "This has to be the sweetest thing, that I've ever seen."

Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him hard on the lips. After what seemed like a long time, they broke off and she nuzzled her head into his shoulder.

"Rouge?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you be my girlfriend? I mean, officially?"

She pulled back to look up into his deep purple eyes and she gave him a wide smile, "Of course I will!" she squealed.

They kissed one more time before Knuckles took her hand and lead her back out to the altar. For hours, they sat and talked about nonsense under the florescent moonlight. And during that time with him, Rouge thought that she felt the baby move inside her for the first time ever.

--

_Woo...short chapter. I have written out most of this story already, but I still find myself making up more stuff as I go. And this chapter is a primo example of that. Uh...tell me what you think while I try to pull this story out of the slumps…finally. I just haven't been bitten by the writing bug in a while. If you know where he is...send him my way. ;P_


	9. Chapter 9

A couple weeks later, Rouge called Knuckles up (after finally getting his number) and invited him to come meet up with her in the local city park for the evening. He had agreed and as he glided down towards Station Square, he couldn't stop thinking about the fact that he and Rouge were now officially a couple and not just two silly teenage kids having a baby. It sounded weird just thinking about it. Batgirl was his girlfriend. He couldn't believe it.

He had been to the park before and spotted Rouge as soon as he entered. She was sitting on one of the park benches wearing a light black jacket with a maternity blouse on underneath that showed off her expanding stomach. But Knuckles was so used to seeing her in that tight and revealing black and red jumpsuit that it shocked him to see Rouge looking so soft and feminine.

As he approached her, she looked up and smiled at him, which made Knuckles heart pound and he even felt himself start to blush a little.

"Hey handsome, what's up?" she stood up and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Nothing much, really," he replied, tilting his chin down and giving her a kiss.

Her cheeks flushed when they broke off. Since when did Knuckles do something as spontaneous and random as that?

"Miss me much?" she asked with a small smirk.

"A little."

She took his hand and led him down the pathways. Knuckles didn't recognize any of the local residents that were walking in the park but they all stared at he and Rouge. Yeah, they were a little famous for being associated with Sonic the Hedgehog, but this sudden attention was new. Knuckles had always hated the limelight so he kept his head down and tried his hardest to ignore the stares and listen to Rouge who was talking about this jerk who tried to hit on her at work.

"…and then," she said, "I see his hand start to reach for my ass in my peripheral vision and I give the son of a bitch a good knee to the groin."

"Oh."

Rouge looked over at him, "Are you even listening to me?"

"Uh-huh,"

She gave him a look, "Tell the truth."

He rolled his eyes, "You kicked some guy in the nuts 'cause he wanted to feel you up,"

Rouge raised her eyebrows, "Hmm, I'm impressed. Now tell me what's really on your mind."

He looked around, "This might sound like paranoia but I think people are staring at us."

"No," she said, crossing her arms, "You're not paranoid. They are staring."

"Why?"

She stepped back and motioned to her stomach, "What do you think?"

"I mean, I know that's the main reason, but is it just because it's _us_?"

"Probably. Just ignore it."

"Can't we just leave?" he complained.

"No, I have something planned out for this evening."

"What?"

She smiled and started to walk forwards again, "You'll see."

He followed her a little further until a playground loomed up ahead of them. Little kids were swarmed all over the place like ants. The sounds of their squeals pierced the air and the veteran parents were collapsed on the benches close by, talking with fellow parents or reading magazines and books. One woman was actually breastfeeding.

Knuckles reeled his head over at Rouge, "Uh, are we lost?"

Rouge shook her head, "No silly, this is a playground."

"I know what it is, but why are we here?"

"I figured that you better get yourself used to all this before the baby comes."

Across the way, a kid fell off the teeter-totter and screamed bloody murder while his frantic looking dad ran over and scooped him up. Another two kids were giggling as they shoved each other. One toddler sitting under a tree was eating rocks while his mother had her back turned.

Knuckles cringed. If there was one thing he wasn't too crazy about it was kids. Especially small toddlers. Babies, he could handle because all they did was eat, poop, cry, and sleep but as soon they learned to walk, it was like all hell broke loose.

"Are you trying to humiliate me?" he grumbled as Rouge settled down on one of the benches.

"No, I thought it would be good practice."

He frowned, "What about you?"

"Knuckles, I have a natural maternal instinct. Plus, a colleague of mine sometimes has me watch his daughter when he and his wife go out. You, however, have zero experience with a child, so I told him that we'd watch little Alexa while they went out for dinner."

Knuckles froze, "You what?"

"You heard me," she said triumphantly, "I hired a kid for you."

"Rouge, I-"

But he didn't get to finish. Rouge stood up suddenly and waved at a couple that was approaching them, "Clint! Ramielle! Over here!"

Clint and Ramielle were both hedgehogs and a little girl hedgehog was running slightly ahead of them, who Knuckles assumed was Alexa.

"Hey girl!" Ramielle squealed as she gave Rouge a hug, "Wow! Look at you! You look so good! How far along are you?"

Rouge grinned, "I'm almost at the end of my second trimester."

As the girls chattered about pregnancy, Clint looked over at Knuckles, "Lemme guess, she put you up for this so you could get some "practice"."

"Bingo," Knuckles said with a sigh.

"Yeah. Ramielle did the same exact thing to me. But Alexa's not that bad. She's two and a half. If I can handle her, than you can. And believe me, you'll thank Rouge for this later."

"I hope your right," Knuckles mumbled.

Ramielle came up next to Clint, "You ready to go, babe?"

"Yeah, I'm just giving Knuckles a little pep talk."

Ramielle rolled her eyes slightly, "Whatever he told you," she said to Knuckles, "just know that you'll be thanking Rouge for this in the future."

"So, I've been told."

Then Clint and Ramielle both bent down and hugged Alexa who was wiggling around and hopping up and down on one foot, eager to start playing.

"We'll see you later, when we get back," Clint told Rouge and Knuckles, "Thanks again."

"No problem," Rouge said, taking Alexa's hand.

After they left, Alexa tugged Rouge's hand and pointed at the jungle gym.

"Play! Play!" she wailed.

"Sorry hon. I'm tired. But Knuckles will play with you." Rouge said sweetly.

Alexa just ignored her and bounced off towards the playground anyways.

Rouge smiled and patted Knuckles on the back, "It's your time to shine."

Knuckles blinked and Rouge grinned at him wider.

"I'm not thanking you for this just yet." He said stiffly.

"Ok, with me. But you might wanna go get Alexa. She could fall or something and start to cry. Then you'd have to calm her down."

She sat on the bench, reached in her purse, and pulled out a folded magazine issue of Cosmopolitan.

Knuckles smirked, "You're some woman, batgirl."

She winked, "Be grateful. Not every guy can have a gal like me."

He shook his head and turned to follow Alexa onto the playground.

Knuckles dodged and shuffled by little kids as he made his way over to the little hedgehog.

"Hi Alexa," he said, in a sweet voice that didn't sound anything like his own and gave her a equally unnatural smile.

She looked up at him with wide and frightened eyes, "Daddy?" she said.

"Uh no," Knuckles muttered, "I'm not daddy."

"Daddy?" she whimpered now and then started to cry.

"What's wrong with her?" Rouge yelled from the benches.

Knuckles shrugged, "I don't know!"

"Well, pick her up and comfort her." she yelled back.

Knuckles held his hands out to Alexa, but the little girl stuck out her lower lip and tucked her armpits in tighter to her body.

"She doesn't want up," he shouted to Rouge.

"Take her on the slide, or the swings, or something."

At this Alexa's eyes lit up and she clapped her hands and giggled.

"Is that what you want?" Knuckles asked, "The slide?"

She nodded.

"Okay, come on then. Follow me."

But the little girl held out her hand to him. He was a little taken aback and hesitated before he finally grabbed it.

Knuckles quickly regretted taking her over to the slide as soon as he looked in it. It was one of those covered tube slides and had boogers smeared everywhere. But Alexa couldn't care less and she and Knuckles went down the slide over and over again.

As they passed Rouge on the benches, Knuckles called over to her, "This kid is pretty easy. She's one-track and I think she's finally warming up to me." he said.

"See how nice that feels?" she said, "That you and the child are friend and not foe?"

"Yeah, I guess."

Rouge looked back down at her magazine and flipped a page, "It gets easier as it goes. I promise."

Surprisingly, Knuckles didn't doubt her and followed Alexa back up to the slide.

* * *

One hour passed before Clint and Ramielle returned from their dinner and collected Alexa. Before they left, Alexa had given Knuckles a dandelion that she picked from the grass in the park and a hug. Then they thanked Rouge and Knuckles one more time and left.

The sun had just set behind the hills and dusk was settling in; the playground was completely kid-free so Rouge got up from the bench and went over to sit on a swing.

"Come on Knuckles! Swing with me." she called to him.

He walked over and collapsed on the ground next to the swing set.

"I don't think so. I'm so pooped."

"Not used to chasing after little kids?" she asked.

"I guess not."

"It's more work than watching the master emerald, huh?"

Knuckles looked up at her, "Well, duh. The only body part you're moving physically when watching the emerald are your eyes."

Rouge kicked off and started to swing back and forth, "Come on….swing with me."

Knuckles didn't say anything.

"Please?" she added.

He groaned and finally stood up, "Fine."

Rouge watched as he made a strained face as he struggled to get settled down on the swing.

She raised her eyebrows, "Have you ever been on one of these?"

"Well, uh. Not really."

She gaped at him, "Seriously? You've never ever been on a swing?"

"I've never been to a playground, period."

"Oh my god. Really?"

He nodded.

"Dude, you were seriously deprived."

"Well," Knuckles muttered looking down at his shoes, "My dad never took me to one when I was little because I was always in training. He didn't want me to know about normal childhood things, so I wouldn't be tortured by the fact that I was missing out on them."

That made Rouge feel sad. "Awwww, Knuckles. That's depressing."

"It wasn't then, and that's all that really matters."

Rouge couldn't help but think about her own child. The expectations that Knuckles' dad had for Knuckles, were the same expectations that Knuckles had for his own child. But Rouge couldn't even begin to fathom the thought of her own child sitting by him/herself on those stony altar steps while other children were running around the playground, giggling and playing with each other.

In attempt to clear her mind of these thoughts, she began to swing faster, pumping her legs harder.

"What are you doing?" Knuckles asked.

"Swinging….duh. Try it, its fun."

He slowly started to mimic her legs motions, while still watching her like a little kid would be.

Soon, he got the hang of it and they were both swinging together back and forth in perfect rhythm until Rouge began to slow down.

"What's wrong?" He came to a stop too.

She was breathing hard and halted the swing by digging her shoes into the gravel, "There's only so much leg pumping a girl who's about 6 months pregnant can do."

"Oh right."

"Forgot already?"

"No, it's just-" he stuttered as he followed her back to the benches.

"-Knuckles, chill. I was only messing around with you."

She sat down and scooted over to make room for him, then laid her head on his shoulder.

They sat in silence for awhile listening to the sounds of nighttime that surrounded them. It reminded Knuckles that he needed to return home sometime soon although strangely he didn't want to leave.

"Well, I think I outta be heading up to Angel Island before it gets any later," he said, standing up, "Do you want me to walk you home?"

She hung her purse over her shoulder, stood up next to him and took his hand, "I'd like that," she said before adding with a smile, "….boyfriend."

Knuckles' cheeks flushed a soft pink.

Yeah,

He still wasn't used to it yet.

--

_Wow. I hope you guys aren't bored of all the Knouge. And I promise you that there will be another coupling in this story but it probably won't happen until the end. Ugh...the next chapter won't come for awhile though. Band camp is starting up this week and then school is right at the heels of that. Soooo, I don't know when I'm gonna have the time to type up another chapter. _

_Ideas...comments...suggestions...critiques...they're all welcome. You can even bitch at me if you really want to...lol...anyways...I'll be updating as soon as I can. _

_Peace out!_


	10. Chapter 10

The next time Rouge flew up to Angel Island, it took her three times as long, and when she finally arrived her heart was racing at a violent rate and she looked like she was about to black out.

"Look, Rouge," Knuckles finally told her as they sat together side by side on the steps of the altar, "I like seeing you and all but I don't think you should risk the trip up here anymore."

"Maybe your right," she said trying to catch her breath, "But I'd like to still be able to see you, just in case something happens with the baby."

Knuckles stood there silently until finally he muttered, "Well, you could always just stay up here…with me."

Rouge raised her eyebrows, surprised by this suggestion. "Well…uh, that would be cool...do you actually have a house? Because sleeping on these stone steps isn't gonna do wonders for my back." she asked.

"Well, duh, of course I do! It's not much, but I have a bed, couch, TV, that only gets three channels, but I do have a microwave and plenty of food." Then he blushed a little bit because he felt like he was practically bribing her.

"That all sounds great, but one other problem," she bit her lip, "I'd have to take my vacation from work a couple weeks earlier than intended."

They stood there for a moment without saying anything. Her work had always come before things, flings and relationships happened when work wasn't. And working for the government, it wasn't like you could just leave a whole two weeks early and still get paid.

But here she stood, in front of the echidna she never thought she would never learn to love and his child inside of her. Things were different now, and she had to start to change with it.

"But you know what?" she said, a smile brightening on her face, "They'll just have to deal with it. Of course I'll stay here with you. So…uhm…when are you going to get my stuff?"

Knuckles grinned which made Rouge's heart start to pound, "Yeah, I guess I can go right now. What do you need? Just a few outfits?"

She waved her hand at him, "No, you don't have to pick out anything. Just grab my hospital bag."

"Your what?"

"Hospital bag. It's a big black bag with small white poka dots on it. I put it in my bedroom at the apartment."

"What's in it?"

"Basically everything. Like clothes, shampoo, all the vitamins I've been taking, comfy shoes….things that I planned to take to the hospital with me."

"Sounds more like things you'll need for a nursing home." he sniggered.

She gave him a small punch on the shoulder, "Shut up Knucklehead."

"Okay, so I'll go down to the city and get that for you. You cool with babysitting the emerald while I'm gone?"

"Yeah, sure." She replied, as Knuckles stood up. Then as he descended the steps, Rouge heard him start to laugh.

"What's so funny?" she called out to him.

He turned around to face her, "I just realized that if this was months ago, I'd rather jump off this island than leave you alone with the master emerald."

She smiled, "Times have changed babe. And so have I. Don't worry, this emerald isn't going anywhere. I promise."

"I know," he said, "I trust you Rouge,"

And then with that, he glided off into the dark night sky.

* * *

It took Knuckles only thirty minutes to return from her apartment with her hospital bag and by the time he arrived it was dark. After doing last minute security checks around the altar, he hefted the bag over his shoulder and took Rouge's hand with his last free hand as he led her through the dark forest.

Rouge used her arm to brush past the branches and bushes, "So did you build this home of yours by yourself?"

Knuckles nodded, "My dad helped a little."

"Your dad? Is he still alive?"

"Duh. Of course he is. He's only 38, he's not that old. Although, I do admit he has been sprouting a few gray dreads nowadays."

He carefully stepped over a rotting tree trunk that was laying across the forest floor before adding, "He lives here on the island in the village that's about forty-five minutes away."

"Does he come visit you?" she asked.

"Every so often."

"Do you get lonely out here?"

He shrugged, "Not really, I'm used to it."

She snuggled closer to him, "You don't have to worry about being lonely anymore though. Plus," she said, "If an army of bad guys would happen to show up, now you wouldn't have to fight them all by yourself."

"It's not like it hasn't happened before. And no offense, but a pregnant bat isn't going to intimidate anyone." he said with a smirk.

Rouge snorted, "Oh yeah, we'll see about that when my super crazy pregnant hormones get kicking into high gear. Then, there will be fur flying."

Knuckles laughed as they approached his shack. He didn't call it shack to Rouge because he was afraid that she might think he lived in some run-down, old, stinkhole that was previously lived in by doped-up hippies. But when she looked at it, she raised her eyebrows, "Wow," she said, "This is really nice. And I mean that too."

He blushed, "Thanks. Your actually the only other person I've brought here."

"Really?"

"Well, besides my dad and Sonic and Tails, but we go way back, so we're basically like family…"

"Oh," she said, "So I'm the first female then…"

"Well…" his voice trailed off and a smirk lifted onto his face.

Rouge gave him a death glare.

"I'm just kidding!" he said giving her a sheepish grin.

She crossed her arms, "You better be, hon, because there better not be any random Angel Island chicks coming around here."

He shook his head, "No. You don't have to worry about that."

"Good," she said, "because you're all mine, babe." Then she leaned over and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "Now, how about we head on in? I'm freezing."

Knuckles grinned, "One more kiss and I'll do it."

She leaned in again and this time, instead of his cheek, her lips brushed against his. Then after they broke off, he turned the doorknob and opened the door.

--

_For being such a hard-headed and serious guy, Knuckles sure does know how to keep his house pretty damn clean, _Rouge thought as she looked around the small cabin home.

The floors were all wood, there was a cushy loveseat across from a TV and then he had a small kitchen space in the corner where Rouge could see a refrigerator, stove, and microwave. Sure, it wasn't perfect and it wasn't so clean that you could see your reflection in the floors and as most bachelor pads were, there were definitely messes here and there. But overall, Rouge found it to be cozy and warm.

"So what do you think?" Knuckles asked, setting her bag on the floor.

"It's cute."

Knuckles snorted as Rouge began to pace around examining things closer. On an end table, there was a picture of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles standing on the front steps of the capitol building, posing next to the president. Each one of them were wearing ribbons, medals, and smiles, all except Knuckles who was giving the camera his signature frown and had his arms crossed across his chest.

Then right next to that was a picture of an echidna who looked almost exactly like Knuckles, a female echidna, and a baby echidna nestled right between them.

"Is that your dad?" Rouge asked.

Knuckles walked over to where she was standing and looked at the picture over her shoulder, "Yeah. My dad, mom, and me when I was really little. It's an old picture. My dad was about my age in it"

Rouge squinted at it closer and noticed there was a thin strand of tape right in the middle where it looks like it had been ripped. She decided not to ask about it quite yet, so she directed her attention to the female.

"So," she said, "This must be your mom."

"Yup,"

"Does she live here on the island too?"

"I wish I knew."

They both stared at the picture silently until Knuckles finally cleared his throat, "Come on, I'll show you where you'll be sleeping."

He led her down a hallway to his bedroom which had only one single bed in it which confused Rouge.

"Uh, if I'm sleeping here, then where are you going to be?" she asked.

"The couch." Rouge raised her eyebrows, "Don't worry," he added, "I usually sleep there anyways."

"Oh, okay. So, now you have me around to entertain, so what are we gonna do?

He sat down on the bed, "Maybe we'll go sight-seeing. There are lots of fascinating trees out there to look at."

Rouge rolled her eyes and sat down next to him, "I was thinking that we could go visit your dad."

"Why?"

"Knuckles! I'm going to have to meet him sometime! He is the grandfather of our baby."

"Good grief. That makes him sound old."

"So could we go see him?" she asked.

"Sure, I guess, but I warned you."

Rouge gave his shoulder a light shove, "Oh, I'm sure he's not that bad. Unless he's like you."

"You'd be surprised." he muttered.

She wrapped her arms around him and tugged him in closer, "You know what?" she whispered.

"What?"

She buried her head into his shoulder, "I'm beginning to feel like I'm at home."

--

_ugh, another boring chapter. I just started school and I'm all stressed out about other stuff so my writing really sucks right now. I know, you guys are probably tired of me complaining about it so i'm sorry about that. But I'm trying to keep the story going and I promise more interesting things will happen in the coming up chapters._


	11. Chapter 11

I'm sorry that it's been awhile since I last updated but I'm finally back! Yay!!

Here's chapter eleven!!

* * *

That night, curled up on the couch, Knuckles had the weirdest dream.

He dreamt that Rouge the Bat, his former enemy, now girlfriend, was living in his house. He dreamt that they walked together through the woods, talking about his dad which is a personal topic that he had never in his life, discussed with anyone.

_Naw_, he thought to himself turning on his side, _It was just a dream._

But as soon as he opened his eyes, reality hit him like a slap across the face. She was standing by the stove, wings folded neatly to her sides, and she was humming. Her back was facing him, so he couldn't really see her face, but he knew it was her.

He let out a small cough to indicate that he was awake.

"Good morning handsome," she said, not even turning around.

He got up from the couch and walked over to her. Her face was clouded by the rising steam coming from the boiling pot of something.

"Now that I'm staying here, it doesn't mean I'm your own little personal housewife, so don't get used to this." she said, smiling.

But this didn't last long when she didn't hear a reply, "What's wrong with you?" she asked him, frowning.

"Nothing, it's just…..strange to see you here," he said.

She raised her eyebrows.

"Gimme a break," he sighed, "It's the first day, don't you feel a little funny about this?"

She shook her head, "I meant what I said last night about feeling right at home. I'm sorry that _you_ feel so awkward about it."

"I'll get better soon. I promise." he said.

"Whatever."

A sudden bubbling noise from the pot, directed their attention back to the stove.

"So, what are you making?" he asked, leaning over closer and sniffing the air.

"Oh, it's just a little recipe I whipped up from my pregnancy book. It's supposed to be really high in vitamins and crap like that."

Knuckles wrinkled his nose, "Rouge, I'm going to be completely honest with you, but this stuff looks like pure sludge."

"I know, but maybe it'll taste ok."

"Yeah sure….good luck with that." He reached up into a cupboard and pulled out a box of Lucky Charms cereal and was reaching for the bowl when she said, "Oh, did I forget to mention that your eating it too?"

"You gotta be kidding me."

She smiled smugly, "Nope. I'm dead serious."

"There's no way in hell that you get me to eat that."

She cupped her hand around her large ear, "Oh! What's that I hear? A challenge?"

A moment of silence passed as they had an intense staredown. Knuckles finally gave in and rolled his eyes. He knew clearly what Rouge was getting at.

"Fine." He grumbled as Rouge scooped some of the goop into another bowl. "But you're damn lucky that you're having my kid."

* * *

The goopy stuff was terrible and Knuckles almost threw-up about five times as he swallowed it down forcefully, spoonful by spoonful. Rouge tried to act like it didn't bother her but she felt the exact same way. But she attempted to maintain a straight face while eating it, unlike him.

"So, uhm, Knuckles?" she said suddenly after awhile.

He looked up at her, some of the goop dribbling from his mouth.

She sighed and reached for a napkin then tossed it at him, "I forgot to tell you that I have an appointment today."

"For what?"

"An ultrasound," she said, running her thumb across the wooden surface of the table.

He swallowed, "Uh, okay. Should I-?" but he hesitated before restating his question, "I mean, do you want me to come?"

"Well….here's the thing. I want you to want to come," she replied.

He shot her a puzzled look.

"The answer is yes," she said, slightly frusterated, "I do want you to come, but I don't want you to go only because you feel like you should."

"No, I want to come. I'd be a good thing to do." he said in a strange voice.

Rouge got up from the table and put her bowl into the sink, "Cool. I'm glad you feel the same way. I'm gonna go get dressed. I'll be ready to leave in fifteen minutes." She leaned down and gave him a kiss on the forehead before leaving the room.

He sat at the kitchen table by himself, staring down into his "breakfast". He ate another spoonful, but spit it out almost immediately. He shoved the bowl aside and put his head in his hands.

All he could think about was the last time he and Rouge had been in a doctor's office together. What if this time, the doctor told them that she was carrying twins or the child was terribly deformed and looked like a mutant vegetable? It made his head hurt and he considered drinking enough Nyquil to put down an adult elephant, and he would have, if he didn't have to drive.

* * *

It was like a bad episode of déjà vu for Knuckles as he and Rouge sat in the waiting room. She was looking at a magazine while he sat there beside her looking bored. His head was resting against the back of his seat and his feet were stretched out in front of him.

"Knuckles, could you have some common courtesy and not look like a jackass in public?" Rouge said with a sigh.

"What am I doing wrong?" he frowned and crossed his arms.

She reached over and pinched him on the back. He let out a yelp and sat up right away. Almost everyone in the waiting room looked over at them. Knuckles cheeks turned bright red, "Well, I hope your happy now." he hissed.

"Yes," she said turning a page, "I am."

Knuckles decided to just ignore her and glanced around the waiting room. The TV was playing cartoons, even though there were mainly adults in the there.

Another older couple in their mid-40s were sitting in seats not that far from where Knuckles and Rouge were and the woman kept looking over at them.

"I swear," Rouge muttered under her breath, "If that hag turns her face this way one more time, I'll slap her so hard, her head will spin."

"Rouge, why are you being so intolerant towards people today?" he asked, hoping the woman did not hear Rouge. She was a good 10 pounds heavier than Rouge (even though she was pregnant) and atleast a foot taller.

"Why are you being so insensitive towards me?" she shot back, a little louder.

This caught the attention of several people nearby.

"It's called paranoia, which is where you think people are out to get you when really they're not."

"Yeah, but in your case, its called denial, and that's three times as bad if not worse."

Knuckles thought he was going to lose his mind, until a nurse came to the door and looked over at them, "Miss? The doctor is ready to see you now."

Both Knuckles and Rouge looked up and were shocked when they saw who the nurse was. It was Tails! He was wearing blue scrubs and an expression of surprise as well.

"Rouge? Knuckles?" he squeaked looking at each, "Well, this is a crazy coincidence."

Rouge stood up, "Tails? Since when have you been working here?"

"I'm kinda like an intern here, but they were short on staff today so I get to help out."

"So….you're a nurse?" Knuckles said snorting but then it escalated into loud laughs.

Rouge punched him in the arm, "Stop it," she said.

Tails sighed, "That's okay Rouge. I already got an earful from Sonic. So I'm used to it. Just let him get it out of his system."

But Rouge wasn't finished, "Knuckles, just because Tails has a real job and you don't, doesn't mean you can make fun of him."

Knuckles stopped laughing, "Hey! Watching the master emerald is an honor and sacred duty!"

"Yeah," Rouge said, "But it still doesn't sign any paychecks."

Tails sniggered, "Oooh, that was a low blow. Up top!"

He and Rouge exchanged high fives, but as soon as Tails looked over at Knuckles' expression, his grin dropped.

"Okay, um, right this way then."

He led them back into one of the rooms and rushed out before Knuckles could clobber him.

* * *

Rouge shivered as she laid on the stiff mattress, while the ultrasound technician squirted some of the jelly stuff on her round belly and used the handheld device to move it around. Knuckles sat in the small seat next to her and watched as a blurry image came up onto the small TV-like screen.

(A/N: I've never been through one of these things, but I hope you all know what I'm talking about)

Rouge couldn't believe what she saw. She could see her baby, small and curled up in a ball. It brought tears to the brim of her eyes.

"Hm, this is interesting." the technician murmured, "I don't think I've ever seen a case of mixed breeding like this,"

Rouge's heart started to pound, "Is something wrong with the baby?"

"No, the baby is just fine. One hundred percent healthy, but your baby is a different breed than you are."

Both Rouge and Knuckles sat up, "What?!"

"Rouge, you're going to give birth to an echidna."

Rouge blinked several times. Had the doctor lady gone off the deep end? She glanced over at Knuckles whose jaw was dropped to the ground. She always had known it was a possibility but she never actually considered it seriously.

She was at a loss for words at first, but finally managed to choke out, "How did this happen?"

The doctor took off her medical gloves, each one making a snapping noise, "Well, a bat is a recessive gene, whereas the echidna is dominant. The chances were all there, so it's perfectly possible."

Knuckles and Rouge exchanged odd expressions.

"Now," the doctor said, "Would you like to know the sex?"

"No," Rouge said, as Knuckles replied at the same time, "Yeah,"

"What do you mean by "no"? Don't you wanna know the gender?" Knuckles asked.

"I kinda wanted it to be a surprise," she said sitting up slowly.

"It's not that big of a surprise, Rouge. It's a 50/50 chance."

"Well, whatever. That's the way I want it, but I guess the nurse could just tell you out in the hallway." she said.

The doctor looked over at Knuckles, but he shook his head, "No, I guess I'll wait too."

The room was quiet until the doctor shrugged and stood up, "Okay, Rouge. Everything here is done. Be sure to talk to the girl at the counter to schedule your next appointment and good luck especially with picking out names."

"Names?" Knuckles squeaked. He had completely forgotten about that.

Rouge grinned up at the doctor, "Thanks. We're gonna need it."

--

_Geez, I can't believe how long this story has gotten! It's crazy. _

_Oh yeah, I got some bad news. Chapter 12 probably won't come for awhile because my stupid computer got a virus, so we're gonna have to take it somewhere to get it fixed. It sucks. But anyways...tell me what you think about this chapter and I'll try to update with the next chapter as soon as possible._

_...peace out! :)_


	12. Chapter 12

_What am I doing? _Knuckles thought,_ I must be out of my freakin' mind. _

He and Rouge were standing just outside of his dad's house. It was a little hut that resembled Knuckles' own house but unlike his son's, there were other houses surrounding it.

They walked up the short dusty path that led to the front door and Rouge reached out and rang the doorbell.

She looked over at Knuckles, "What's your problem? It's just your dad."

"Yeah, I know. But my dad is the biggest bachelor the world's ever known, so don't be surprised if you see a Playboy lying around in the open." Knuckles said.

Rouge snorted and rolled her eyes, "Believe me Knuckles, it probably won't be as bad as you think."

"You never know. In fact, I should probably go in first to make sure he's not sprawled out on the couch in his underwear."

She giggled and tucked her hand in his as he rang the doorbell again.

A small part of her was nervous about meeting Knuckles' dad. It put immense pressure on the relationship because the more family members you meet, the more serious it gets. They were taking the first steps and Rouge insisted that his dad would be a lot easier to tell first than any of her family.

So far what she learned about Knuckles' dad was his name was Locke and she could gather easily by the way Knuckles' was squirming around that he had not brought many girls over to meet his dad.

All of a sudden, the door swung open and Rouge was taken aback. Locke looked like a mirror image of Knuckles but older and slightly shorter.

Locke seemed just as surprised as Rouge, but for different reasons.

"Son," he said, opening the door wider, "Good to see you."

"Dad," Knuckles grunted.

Locke stepped forward and held out a hand to Rouge, "And, I see you brought a friend. This must be the one you told me about."

To her he said, "Nice to meet you…….uh?"

"-Rouge, my name is Rouge," she finished for him as she returned his handshake.

Locke nodded and waved them inside, "Come on in."

The interior of the house was everything that Knuckles wasn't what he had anticipated to see. He had told his dad beforehand that they were coming over, but he didn't really expect him to take it seriously. But apparently, he had and cleaned up the house.

"So," Locke said with a wide smile, "Let's come clean here. Did he hire you to act like his girlfriend? He must be paying you some good cold hard cash."

Knuckles groaned and buried his hands in his face, but Rouge just grinned, "No, of course not." she said.

"Well, I'll be. Good for you son." He patted Knuckles' on the back, "She's definitely more attractive than what I expected."

"Thanks for that, dad." Knuckles mumbled.

"I'm just joking around. Why are you so uptight?" Rouge stifled a laugh as Knuckles' face slowly turned a beet red, "I'll let you guys get settled while I get drinks and the embarrassing baby pictures." Locke added.

"Oh god, please no."

Rouge giggled.

"Why not?" Locke said.

"Yeah," Rouge chimed, "I'd like to seem them."

Locke chuckled, "Oh, he was the chubbiest and cutest baby, despite the fact he sucked his thumb until he was 8."

"Dad!"

Locke sighed, "Alright fine, I have pop, water, tea, coffee. What will it be?"

Rouge sat down on the couch, "I'll take tea please."

Knuckles didn't even look up, "Water." He said, stiffly.

"I'll be right back then, make yourselves right at home." Then Locke turned and left the room.

"So, are you already freaked out? Because he tends to make you want to run in the other direction." Knuckles asked Rouge.

She waved her hand at him, "No Knuckles, I like him. He's funny."

"I was just making sure."

"I know. And I wasn't kidding about the baby pictures. I wanna see them." She said with a smirk.

"I wasn't kidding either, it's not gonna happen."

She nudged him playfully and placed a hand on her stomach. 6 months pregnant and she was blowing up faster than a balloon on a helium pump. It's was pretty obvious and people in her workplace had already started to notice. Even the people who usually ignored her unless she was wearing a low neckline shirt were aware of it. Locke seemed like he was pretty smart so she knew, that no doubt, that he detected it as well.

Knuckles was fiddling with his fingers and looking around the room as if he'd never been in there before.

"Relax," Rouge said, "It's gonna be alright."

"It's just strange having to tell my dad that I'm going to be one too."

"I know. But he'll be cool with it. I just know it."

Locke came back into the room carrying the beverages, "Okay, I'm back," he announced, "just in case you guys knew to stop making out or something."

Knuckles rolled his eyes. Locke set their drinks in front of them on the coffee table then settled down into his armchair.

"So what brings you here today?" he asked.

Knuckles straightened up, "Well, um…we have some news to tell you."

Locke grinned, "Relax son, I already know. She's gonna have a baby."

Rouge smiled, she was right.

"How'd you know?"

"I looked at her." Locke said with a wink.

Rouge giggled.

"If you knew in the first place, why didn't you just tell us you did?"

"It's considered rude if you just automatically assume someone's pregnant without a proper introduction first."

"Oh,"

"Plus," Locke said sipping on his glass of iced tea, "I just know these things. A pretty girl like Rouge wouldn't let herself go like this."

"Well, that makes things a hundred times better." Knuckles let out a sigh of relief and leaned back.

"Good. So is there anything else? A wedding in the future?"

Rouge spoke this time, "Right now, we're just focusing on the baby. We never really discussed marriage."

This seemed like it was the wrong answer. Locke got quiet and sipped his coffee, nodding.

"So," he said after awhile, "Do you know what you're having?"

"Not yet." Rouge said, "We want it to be a surprise."

"Yeah, that's what Lara and I wanted too

Lara-Le, Rouge was told by Knuckles, is his mother. She knew that she and Locke were no longer married and she guessed that Knuckles' birth may have something to do with it.

They talked for the rest of the time about baby things and gossip going on around the village. Mindless stuff like that but never touched back on Lara or what would happen to Knuckles and Rouge's relationship after the baby was born.

Before long, it was time to go. Rouge needed Knuckles to help pull her up from the couch, and with one hand on her stomach, the other in his, she waddled to the door.

"Thank you for the wonderful time, Mr. Uh…."

"Please, just call me Locke, and your welcome."  
He gave her a hug and then turned to his son, "Your doing alright, Knuckles. And," he muttered lowering his voice so it was only audible to him, "she's definitely a keeper."

Then, Rouge and Knuckles left while Locke watched them go, "Good Luck." he whispered before he turned to go back inside.

* * *

"Well," Rouge said, "That was rather enjoyable."

"It was alright," Knuckles replied, "My old man was tamer tonight than I thought he would be. I mean, you are the first girl I've ever brought home with me"

"Yeah. And I'm already pregnant."

Knuckles smirked and then turned his head away. They were parked right outside of his house but they got caught up in a conversation so they hadn't left the car yet. Night had settled in and the lights inside of the car faded away so they were sitting in the dark.

He couldn't stop thinking about the visit they had just had with Locke. Never in a million years would he have imagined bringing Rouge home to meet his dad.

"First time in awhile that he's mentioned _her_," he muttered under his breath.

Rouge turned her head toward him. Even though he didn't say who he was talking about, she knew almost immediately. It had been on her mind almost all evening.

"Knuckles?"

"Yeah?"

"What happened to your mother?"

He didn't say anything for the longest time.

"I mean," Rouge said, backing up her question, "If that's too personal…"

"No, it's okay. My mom is alive and all, it's just I'm a lot closer to my dad, only because he's the only one that actually raised me."

He squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed at his temples, and Rouge knew from this that he was not used to revealing this part of his life to anyone.

"I remember when they were together," he continued, "They always fought especially over me. Dad wanted to get me started right away on training. He wanted to move me closer to this village which is far away from my birthplace. Mom hated this idea; she wanted me to grow up like a normal kid but Dad obviously had different plans for me. So, in the end, they were unable to sort it out and split up. I've always lived with my dad and I rarely ever saw my mom. It's been almost 10 years since I have seen her."

Rouge couldn't believe it. A mental image flashed through her mind; it was the picture from the end table and the long tear that separated the echidna couple. She reached over and put her hand in his, "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Look Rouge, I'm the way I am because Dad never really taught me anything about love and commitment to another living being because he thought that he had failed at it."

Rouge frowned, "Hold up. What do you mean "the way you are"."

"Well, I can be a little hard-headed and all that other shit."

This was the first time Knuckles had ever let his guard down around anyone. The thick barrier that he had worked years to build up, that would protect him against rejection like his father had gone through, was breaking down right in front of Rouge.

She watched him with soft eyes and squeezed his hand tighter.

"I'm not thinking that now. I think this is the most down-to-earth that you've ever been. And you shouldn't be ashamed about it," she told him.

"I wanna try at this Rouge. I really do." he murmured.

"What's that?"

"This relationship. Staying committed to each other even after this baby comes."

Thoughts of marriage flashed through Rouge mind and it made her heart pound.

"Do you mean-?" she began, then by the confused look on his face, her voice dropped off.

"What?"

"Nevermind," she mumbled. Apparently she and Knuckles were on a different page.

Outside, the low whispers of crickets had cranked up into a full chorus of chirping which was the reason why Rouge almost didn't hear Knuckles when he said her name quietly,

"Rouge?"

"What?"

"I don't want that to happen to our child. I don't want it to grow up in a broken family like I did."

Rouge could tell by his serious expression that he wasn't messing around with her.

"I know Knuckles," she whispered, "And it won't."

--

_Okay people. Now that my computer is back, it's time for some serious writing. I'm kinda getting bored of this story. So I want to finish up a.s.a.p. I'm predicting maybe another 2 or 3 chapters then we'll have a wrap on this story. _

_Alright, I'm done blabbing..._

_peace out!_


	13. Chapter 13

Only one more chapter (and maybe an epiloge) to go!!

Enjoy chapter 13!

* * *

Rouge was awaken by a loud chopping noise. She opened her eyes and sat up at once. The baby book that she had fallen asleep with propped up on her stomach, slid off and onto the floor. The sudden, quick speed of sitting up made her grasp onto her stomach. She groaned. She had grown tired of being fat. Plus, her feet were swollen, her back felt like it was crumpled up, and periods of fatigue hit her about 15 times a day. Never in all her life had she been in such a bad shape. Being pregnant, she decided, was pretty suckish, except for what was the outcome of it all.

She slid her feet into her slippers right by the bed and shuffled around the house, one hand to her back, the other on her stomach, looking for Knuckles. The couch was empty. But then she discovered the whole house was vacant.

Another thwack, followed by a grunt, came from outside in the woods. She grabbed her robe and hobbled out the door.

Rouge found Knuckles, shirtless and shimmering with a light sweat, out in the middle of the forest, in a clearing. He was chopping wood and was swinging the axe down at a log, when Rouge approached from behind. She waited for a minute while the blade split the log, clean in two, and after he set the axe down to wipe his sweaty face on a towel. She snuck up behind him and covered his eyes with her two hands, like a silly little school-girl.

"Guess who?" she said in a seductive voice.

He reached up and lowered her hands from his eyes and turned towards her, still held within her embrace.

"Wow, what a surprise," he said sarcastically, "Never would've guessed it was you."

"Well, who knows, it could've been your other pregnant girlfriend."

Knuckles snickered and raised his arm to wrap them around her but she stepped back, "Oh no, you don't, stinky Pete." She teased, "But I promise after you take a shower, you can touch me all you want," she gave him a flirty look.

"Fine," Knuckles said turning back towards his axe, "I don't blame you. I've been sweating like a freaking butcher out here. I wouldn't want to touch me either."

"Ew,"

"Not that way, you perv,"

But Rouge just kept smiling; she walked over to a boulder close by and sat down upon it, her wings hanging lazily to her side. She hadn't bothered to fold them, in days.

As she sat there watching Knuckles, a light noon breeze sweeping through the forest, making the leaves rattle in the trees, she realized that in the first time in her life, she was relaxed. She didn't have to bust her butt over stupid government jobs, no emeralds or diamonds to steal, no guy making a grab for her butt, no Eggman, no press or publicity, all of which that she usually enjoyed. Except horny guys and Eggman, she still hated those.

Knuckles' standoffish and reserved living style, balanced out her own crazy and bustling life. It was like she needed it. And she liked it. She could actually breathe, think, and actually enjoy living.

"Another rough night?" Knuckles asked suddenly, breaking through her thoughts, "I saw your light on when I went to make my midnight check on the emerald."

"Not really," she said, "I stayed up late, reading baby names until 2, then I fell asleep."

"You spent hours just looking at names?!"

"Yes," she said, reaching into her robe pocket, pulling out a small folded piece of paper that she had written some names on last night, "And I found a bunch."

Knuckles steadied his grip on the axe handle and aimed carefully, "Mmhm." he murmured.

Rouge got excited and hopped slightly in her seat, "I really like the whole idea of unique baby names. So here are a few,"

Knuckles groaned under his breath.

"I'm sorry, is there a problem?" she challenged throwing him a dirty look.

"No, go ahead," he said, trying to keep the negativity out of his voice.

She rolled her eyes and looked at her list again, "I was thinking for girl names, maybe Divinity or Bliss…."

Knuckles straightened his back out and looked up at her, "Hold on. Can we skip over the "mood" names? I don't want my kid to be named like one of the Seven Dwarves."

"Knuckles! I think it's appropriate. Childbirth brings out lots of emotions."

Knuckles swung the axe again, and with each swing he muttered a name under his breath.

"…Happy…" _chop_. "…Grumpy…" _chop_. "…Dopey…." _chop_. "…Doc…"

"Ok! Ok! Fine, you made your point. No "mood" names."

"Good. Next!"

"What about Natalie?" she suggested.

"Naw, too human," he said.

She raised her eyebrows, "Too human?"

"Yeah," he grunted, stacking the recently chopped wood into a small pile, "Names like Hannah, Madison, or Jessica; their all human names."

She sighed. This was gonna take forever. She'd almost forgotten how stubborn the echidna could be. "Well, I'm sorry but I couldn't find any good echidna names." she said looking exhausted.

"We could name it after on of my ancestors or other great echidnas of the past." he said, proudly.

"Only in your wildest dreams handsome …..." she muttered sarcastically.

"Ha," he grunted again, which halted their conversation for a while.

He resumed his wood chopping. Rouge was confused; his pile was already reaching a good 5 feet in height.

"Why are you doing all that anyways?" she asked.

"Er….uh…" he seemed hesitate at first to answer, "I dunno, I guess I was bored."

"So, you chop wood?"

"It's a good workout,"

His answer still didn't satisfy Rouge, it seemed awkward and unfitting to her question. But she decided to shrug it off and continue on with the list.

"Ok," she said, "You wanna hear a boy name?"

"Shoot,"

She turned the list to the backside, "How about Comet?"

He paused for a minute, leaning up against his axe and wiping his brow with his sweaty arm, "You know, that actually would be more appropriate. All the stories I've heard about child birth, it seems like the woman was giving birth to one." he said.

Rouge was perplexed, "One what?"

Knuckles' lips cracked into a smile, "A comet."

Rouge's face was deadpan, "Thanks for the reminder."

"No prob." he chuckled, "Got any better ones?"

"Naw," Rouge crumpled the paper in her fist, "That's it for now."

"Yeah," he said, "For now, but later you'll have a million more."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," she said smugly.

"More like tiresome,"

"Speaking of which, I feel another sleep attack coming on." she yawned.

Besides the effects of pregnancy, she still was only running on 5 hours of sleep. The bat needed easily at least another 5 before she was fully rested. She held out her arms to Knuckles, "Now, come help me down and take me to my bed chambers," she said giggling.

He smirked and placed the axe down, "Yes, your highness," he responded. He walked over and caught her as she slid carefully from the boulder, into his arms, then carried her "bridal style" all the way back to the hut.

It was funny, even though Rouge had gained more weight; he was still able to carry and probably could've for another 3 miles.

* * *

Most of the day, Rouge stayed inside the house. She kept busy by napping and reading more of her baby book. She had gotten through at least 15 chapters, starting at nutrition and ending at diaper rashes. She steered her attention away from the graph of the best brands of butt paste, and looked at the window that faced the forest.

Knuckles had been outside most of the day. The chopping stopped after she had taken her 2nd nap, and after that, sawing. After that, hammering. After that came the most annoying sound, silence. Rouge wanted to know what the hell was going on with that echidna. Was he just sitting there in the middle of the forest, in that clearing, staring at the sky? Or maybe he was back at the altar performing his original task. It had been quiet for more than an hour and a half and dark was settling in.

When the clock finally read 9 o'clock, Rouge put down the book, grabbed a flashlight and stomped out the door.

She crashed through the branches and bushes, pointing the flashlight in all directions, calling out his name, "Knuckles! You out here?"

"Rouge?"

She turned around and the light from the flashlight illuminated his face. He squinted and put a hand in front of the light, "What are you doing out here?" he asked.

She lowered the light, "Checking on you," she said, "It was getting late. What on earth are you doing?"

Knuckles seemed to be holding something behind his back, "N...Nothing really," he stammered slightly, "Actually, I was just heading back home,"

Rouge smirked, "You big fat liar, what's the real reason? You hiding a stripper behind your back?"

"No," he said defensively, "It's not a stripper. The more correct term is a prostitute."

"Same difference," Rouge said with a giggle, stepping closer towards him, "Seriously, what are you hiding from me?"

"I didn't want you to know yet,"

She stopped, "What is it? Now, you got me curious."

He tried to step backwards again, but she reached over and grabbed the object. It was a hammer.

Rouge frowned and held it up, "You didn't want me to see your hammer?"

"No,"

"Are you building an ark or something? You've been out here all day."

"It's something."

"What?" she asked, excited, "Is it for the baby?"

"No," he said, "It's for the stripper."

She ignored him. She was way too pumped up to listen to his cynical remarks, "Can I see it?"

"It's not quite ready, but I guess I could show you what I got so far,"

He took her hand and led her deep into the forest back to the clearing where the remnants of wood shavings were, scattered across the ground and when Rouge finally looked up, she gasped at what was in front of her.

"Knuckles!" she squealed, "It's adorable!"

There in front of her, was a small wooden crib. It seemed well-constructed but only half of it was painted. On the sides, Knuckles had carved out little tiny symbols that Rouge didn't recognize.

She leaned in closer to examine them, "This is amazing. How did you get to be so good at carpentry?"

He shrugged, "I have lots of time on my hands."

She reached over and gave him a hug, "I'm speechless," she whispered into his ear, "Really. But what do the little symbols mean?"

"Oh, it's an old echidna prayer. One usually said when a new guardian is born." He sighed, "One my father read to me,"

There it was again. The whole guardian issue. The only issue that was really bothering Rouge, starting from the moment he had come back to her that day at her apartment.

"Knuckles?" she asked softly.

"Yeah?"

She took a deep breath, "Is the reason why you came back to me, have anything to do with the guardianship?"

Knuckles' muscles tensed up, like he had been caught red-handed and cornered,

"Well…." There was a long pause, "To be to completely honest with you, it was……one of the reasons."

Her stomach did a back flip, "Is it what mattered to you most?" she asked, trying to keep her voice in a calm volume range.

"At first it was." he admitted.

A pained expression crossed her face, but Knuckles continued, "But it's not like that anymore. I promise you. I mean, that was before I really got to know you. And now that I do, I think I'm beginning to fall for you."

"Only the beginning?"

"Rouge, trust me." he muttered.

"This guardian stuff is an issue that will never go away, isn't it?" she asked, her voice climbing back up to normal range.

"It's part of who I am Rouge!" he said, his voice rising as well.

"Yeah, I understand and I love every portion of you, but I just hate how you've been dishonest with me about all this! As selfish as it might sound, but I want you to love me and to see more than just the mother of your child," She paused for a minute to wipe her eyes with her sleeves. _Damn pregnancy hormones, _she thought bitterly_, They make you way more emotional than you need to be._

"Whatever happened to not living in a broken family?" she asked.

"Don't you see Rouge?" he yelled, "That's why I'm still here. Because I think I love you!"

Rouge blinked.

Knuckles mouth gaped open and he felt as if he if he was the gatekeeper to a cage that held within it, a terrible monster. And he, by accident had let it loose. Before either of the two could stutter out any words, Knuckles had turned on his heel and ran, back through the long weaves of the forest brush.

* * *

Rouge found him on the stone steps of the altar in his usual spot. His eyes were lowered towards the ground and he was rubbing loose rubble and debris between his sneakers.

Using the one hand on her stomach as balance, she hobbled up towards him. Two steps away from where he was, he looked up at her. There was only the sound of the forest that surrounded the air as the two stared at each other.

Finally, Rouge kneeled down in front of him and curled her arms around his neck. She held on tightly and close so she could feel the weight of his pounding heart hammering against hers. She smiled when she felt that their hearts were finally in sync.

--

_Like I said at the top of the page, the next chapter is probably gonna be the last one (unless I decide to do an epiloge, which depends on how long chapter 14 is.) But I'm so ready for my new fanfic! :)_


	14. Chapter 14

_Okay, I lied. This is not the last chapter. I'm sorry, but I can assure you that the final chapter is right around the corner. I'll explain more at the bottom of the page. For now, enjoy the fourteenth addition to the story!_

* * *

Amy Rose ran through the streets of Mobius, because she was heading to her favorite place on Earth, Sonic's place.

Today at work, she was thinking about things she could do for Rouge, who she had not seen for months now, and the baby.

While she was scanning up a heinous orange cardigan for a woman who looked like she escaped from a psyche ward, she was stuck by an idea. The orange cardigan lady was also buying a guide for party planning and Amy got the idea of a baby shower. But, she knew there was no way that she could pull it off by herself. Sonic was a friend of Knuckles', so he was the person for Amy to ask. Plus, she took every opportunity to go see her hero.

She approached the tall apartment building and pressed the buzzer up to his room.

"Yo, Sonic here," the familiar voice squawked through the voice box.

"Hey Sonic! It's Amy!" she squealed, "Lemme up!"

"Okay, fine, but step away from the voice box," he said reluctantly, "You nearly blew out my eardrums."

"Sorry about that," she whispered then took one step back.

She heard him give a sigh and the front door's bolt unlatch.

She entered the building, took the elevator and walked down many hallways until finally she was knocking on Sonic's door.

"Hey!" she squealed, rushing forward to give him a tight hug, "Long time no see,"

"Too bad it didn't last longer," Sonic gasped trying to breathe in some air.

"I totally heard that, but I really don't care at the moment. I need your help."

"What?" he said, "Please don't tell me that you're being chased by one of Eggman's robots again."

"No, silly. I'm planning a party for Rouge and Knuckles."

"For what? They've only been together for like 6 months; it can't be their 1 year anniversary yet,"

She walked over and flopped down on his couch, "It'll be a baby shower."

Sonic frowned. He didn't want Amy to stay very long, but she was already making herself comfortable, "Don't those usually happen during the 6th or 7th month?" he asked.

"Like it matters, she'll still love it." she said.

"Knuckles won't."

"Boys aren't allowed anyways."

Sonic looked perplexed, "Then, why the hell am I helping you out with a party I can't even go to?

"Good point, but I needed a good excuse to see you." She stood up and walked over to him, grabbing his hand, "I missed you, Sonic."

Sonic was about to squirm out of her grasp like he usually did but something held him back. For some odd reason, Amy seemed so different then she usually was. She looked older, "When did you start wearing eyeliner?" he asked all of a sudden, leaning in closer.

Amy pulled her head away, "What?"

At that moment, her cell phone ringtone went off in her pocket. She let go of Sonic's hand and flipped the screen open and looked down to see who the caller was.

"Speaking of Rouge" she said, with a smile. She put the phone up to her ear, "….hello?"

Rouge's voice came through, "Amy? Hey! Do you have a moment? I need to bitch. Badly."

Amy looked once at Sonic, who raised his eyebrows, "About what?"

"Knuckles. Lately, he's been driving me nuts. He's so stressed out about crap and he's acting really weird.

"I bet. The baby should be here any day now. That's pretty stressful to think about, especially for a guy."

"Well, get this, today we went to Walmart. Yeah, I know. It's the last place on earth I'd ever be, which proves how low I've sunken."

"Right," Amy said halfhearted, picking lint off her shirt she was wearing that she had bought at Walmart.

"Anyways," Rouge continued, "I saw these really cool drapes that goes perfectly with my plans for the baby's room, but Knuckles was all, 'the baby doesn't give a damn about the drapes' and insisted we didn't need them. So I was thinking, 'Oh no, that's not how this girl is. I will not let some stubborn ass just roll right over me,' so I bought them just to spite him. Later, he found them and flipped out. I got so fed up with him that I grabbed my cell phone and left."

Rouge had said this all in one big breath and was now breathing heavily through her nose, "Amy? You still there?"

"Yeah," Amy muttered, "I see now, how I came into this whole fiasco."

"Exactly,"

"Is everything okay? Nothing's permanently over, right?"

"I don't think so," Rouge said, her voice sounding sad.

"Okay, Rouge. You know what? How 'bout we go shopping sometime, that always makes you feel better."

"That would be nice. I need to get out, seriously, this island is compressing my nerves and it's making me go mad. I also need bigger pants, the elastic on the ones I had are getting tighter."

"I think you're just getting fatter, no offense." Amy chuckled.

"None taken, but you can only get away with saying that now. Just come pick me up tomorrow around noon."

"Alright, I'll see you then." she said.

She put down the phone and looked back at Sonic who wore a smirk on his face.

"Knuckles and Rouge are living together?" he asked, "Since when?"

"I dunno, since awhile."

"So, they're pretty serious shit, huh?"

"I don't know about that, they're on their way to serious issues if they're already bickering over drapes."

"Surprisingly, that doesn't shock me," he said, "They fight over everything."

"I know." she sighed, feeling stressed from just talking to Rouge, "I should get going."

"Wait, Amy." Sonic said suddenly in a voice so severe that it made her jump, "What about those party plans?"

Her surprised expression seemed to flatten, "Oh, right. I'll call you later about that, okay?"

"Sure, I guess."

"See ya," she said, and gave him one last smile before disappearing behind the door.

Sonic sank onto his couch and sighed. That girl could be so random sometimes.

* * *

Rouge was walking along a long dusty path alone.

She felt her feet throb from walking way beyond the limit they were equipped to last. The sun was barely holding on to the edge of the horizon and a few stars were already twinkling in the soft orange and purplish sky. She looked straight ahead, walking opposite the direction of the master emerald altar and her jerk boyfriend.

It just now dawned onto her, the whole picture of what she had gotten herself into. And for the first time she found herself angry at the baby. If she had never gotten pregnant, she and Knuckles could have gone out for awhile, maybe longer, but if they ever had to break it off, there would be no real connection between them. Now, with the baby, there was that unbreakable bond between her and the echidna. Strangely, that scared Rouge. She had never been in a real close relationship with anyone. She never knew true love before now and it disgusted her that she let herself become what she tried for years to avoid.

But deep down, she knew it wasn't the baby's fault and it wasn't Knuckles' fault. It was her own fault because of her selfish desire to always get what she wants. Except this time, it backfired.

"_I wanted Knuckles so badly, and now, look, what I ended up with_," she thought bitterly.

She put her hand on her stomach and felt the baby kick her right in the middle of her palm.

"You think so too?" she asked it, although she was pretty positive it couldn't hear her.

A cold wind blew through and Rouge shivered. Maybe, it was time to go home. She turned to start in that direction when something right ahead, caught her attention.

It was a large temple. Rouge approached it and noticed the strange symbols that was etched into the stone, were the same ones that Knuckles put on the cradle.

She walked inside of it. It was mainly empty space except for several pew-like benches and a large tapestry hanging on the far wall. Right below it, there were candles. Some lit, some extinguished. She couldn't make out the figure on the tapestry very well. It smelled like incense.

"I didn't know there were visitors here today!" a loud voice boomed, scaring Rouge shitless.

She jumped and spun around. A hunched-over echidna was shuffling towards her. He looked old and the tips of his dreads locks were gray and white.

"I-I'm sorry," Rouge stuttered, "I didn't know this was a private residence. I'll leave, sir."

The echidna waved his old crooked hand at her, "No, no. I didn't mean to frighten you. This is a public place. I was just surprised to see someone of your kind, here."

Rouge looked around, "What is this place?"

The echidna sat down on one of the benches, "The ancient temple for the echidna brotherhood. Quite dusty, huh?"

Rouge smiled, "Only a little bit," she joked back, "You look a lot like someone I know. Are you related to Knuckles?"

"Yes, I am. I am Athiar. Knuckles' great grandfather. It's been quite some years since I was in my great grandson's position as guardian," He sighed and looked up at the tapestry, "It is an honored, yet very complicated job. Lots of tough choices to make about morality and your own eternity."

"No kidding," Rouge muttered sarcastically under her breath.

"Do you know my grandson?" Athiar asked, his eyes going to her baby bump for the first time.

Rouge noticed this, "I do, and in case you were wondering, yes, he is the father of this child," she said.

Athiar chuckled to himself, "I am very glad to hear that. I'll admit for awhile, I wasn't sure our Knuckles was ever going to find someone and pass on the family name. Ever since the day Knuckles was born, I knew he had the great power within him and not just of physical strength, but emotional as well."

Rouge listened intently as Athiar kept talking, "This strong commitment to things he truly loves and cares for which is what many of us predicted would make him a great guardian to our emerald. But lately, I've noticed this commitment has been directed towards something else," he said looking at Rouge, "I have not seen him at his post as often,"

Rouge was slightly puzzled, "Do you live nearby? How do you know this for sure?"

"I watch from the master emerald." he replied simply.

'_Creepy_' Rouge thought but she decided to let it go.

"Quite frequently," Athiar added, "I have also seen my grandson here,"

"Knuckles?" Rouge asked, "He comes here? To the temple?"

He nodded, "On a daily basis. He prays a lot, for forgiveness mainly."

"Why?"

Athiar shrugged, "Honestly, I don't know. Maybe you should ask him, I have a feeling it's about something he was gonna tell you sooner or later,"

Rouge stood up. She was now eager to get back to the house, "Thank you," she said to the old echidna, "for everything."

Athiar nodded again, "Of course, my dear. Remember to keep your chin up; brighter days will come. I promise."

Rouge smiled at the echidna who was now standing up and hobbling toward the shadows. Then, she left the temple and took off towards the house as fast as her swollen aching feet would take her.

* * *

Knuckles had a large basin full of warm water and a billion apologies waiting for her when she arrived.

For second Rouge was confused. She had forgotten all about the fight.

She closed her eyes and collapsed into a chair, "Knuckles, relax. It's no big deal."

"But I was a moron," he said, "I yelled at you for drapes! Drapes for crying out loud! I feel like a pathetic, lowly-"

Rouge had enough. She reached up and smacked him clear across the face, "Get a hold of yourself, Knucklehead. I hate when people grovel,"

Knuckles seemed broken from his frantic spell, "Thanks for that," he murmured.

"Don't mention it,"

The warm water was working wonders for her feet. Rouge felt so much better.

Knuckles pulled up a chair next to her, "I was really worried about you," he said, "Where did you go?"

"You won't believe me, when I say it, but I just so happened to stumble upon the ancient echidna temple,"

Knuckles raised his eyebrows, "You did?"

"Yeah, and I met your great-grandfather, Athiar."

Knuckles eyebrows lowered and furrowed together, "You…..did?" he said, this time much more confused.

"What?"

"Rouge, you couldn't have met him. It's impossible."

"You think I'm bullcrapping you, don't ya?"

"No," Knuckles said slowly, "Athiar is dead."

Rouge sat up, "Huh?"

"He's been dead for over 20 years,"

"That can't be. I-I just talked to him. He was real and alive."

Knuckles shook his head, "No Rouge, he's definitely dead."

"Oh god, I'm going crazy."

"No, not really," Knuckles muttered, "I've heard stories of people seeing the ghosts of ancestors in the temple before."

"But why me?" Rouge asked, still feeling slightly dizzy from realizes she was talking to a ghost.

"Isn't it obvious?" Knuckles indicated at her pregnant belly, "You're carrying the next heir,"

"Oh, that's true," she said, "It's still strange though. I could've sworn he was real."

Knuckles didn't say anything and stared down at his sneakers. Rouge then remembered one thing that Athiar did tell her, "Knuckles?"

"What?"

"Athiar said he'd seen you in the temple recently. He hears you praying for forgiveness. What's that all about?"

Knuckles met her eyes. The same guilty and caught look was raging in his expression.

Rouge shook her head and pointed an accusing finger at him, "No, not this again Knuckles. This time just tell me, straight up. What's going on?"

"Well, I've been thinking," he began.

Rouge smiled, "That's something I don't hear from you everyday."

"Har har." Knuckles said dryly, "Anyways, I've been doing some thinking about," he hesitated, swallowed, then said, "giving up my guardianship,"

Rouge gaped and pushed back her seat, almost making the basin tip over, "What?!?! Why would you do that? I mean, you've always said that-"

Knuckles grabbed her hands, "-I know! I know what I've said in the past but now, it's not the same. Anytime now I spend with the emerald, is time I spend away from you and then later, the baby as well. Do you understand where I'm coming from?"

Rouge shook her head sadly, "I couldn't let you do that. This job means everything to you and your ancestors. It would be wrong."

"Listen, take it from a guy who's had the experience. Wouldn't it be better on our lives to know it'll be completely out of our hair? And between you and me, I've been dying to leave Angel Island for years." He said.

"But it's your birthplace! It's someplace where you have a foundation and roots, why would you want to abandon all that?"

Knuckles gave her a hard look, "Would _you_ want to stay here?"

Rouge bit her lip, "It wouldn't be my first pick…" she said softly.

"Then, that settles it,"

Rouge held up her hand, "Wait! Are you absolutely, positively-"

But she was interrupted when Knuckles slipped his hand behind her head and he pressed his lips against hers. The kiss was so passionate that it lasted for almost two minutes. Rouge let herself fall into his arms and closed her eyes. '_Dang! How could I ever give this up?_' she thought.

After they broke off, Knuckles smirked, "Does that answer your question?"

"I guess," Rouge said, "But, for the record, if you have any objections to this in the future, just know that I had no say in this decision and was not ultimately responsible for it."

Knuckles smiled and said, "Deal."

--

_Okay folks, I'm so sorry that I lied about this being the last chapter. To make sure this doesn't happen again, I can say confidently that this story will be done in 1-2 chapters after this. There was no way I could finish this up in this chapter, I wrote way more than I expected to. And I know, this was pretty boring, but the next chapter should perk you up. TTFN! :)_


	15. Chapter 15

_

* * *

_

Here 's chapter 15 for your reading pleasure....enjoy!

* * *

It was the first quiet day in weeks at the hedgehog and fox residence. No robberies, no searches for the chaos emeralds, and best of all, no evil geniuses trying to take over the world.

Sonic was dozing on the couch in he and Tails' living room. The remote, to the muted TV, was resting on his stomach that rose and fell with each breath. Tails was down in the basement in his lab working on his new mechanical project. Everything was dead quiet except for the occasional clink and clang from the lab. That's why Sonic wasn't ready when a loud pounding came on his apartment door. It startled him so badly that he rolled straight off the couch.

"Goddamnit," he grumbled, rubbing his aching forehead, "who the hell could that be?"

He opened the door and saw Knuckles standing on the other side.

"Well, well, well," Sonic said, his mood changing from groggy to smug, "look who crawled out from under his rock,"

"Can it, Sonic. I'm here for serious business." Knuckles growled, crossing his arms.

The two had not forgotten about their last confrontation together.

Sonic fell against the door, "I was sleeping. Can't this wait?"

Knuckles frowned, "Not with you. I have to talk with Tails. Is he here?"

The hedgehog blinked, "You came here for Tails?"

"I certainly didn't come for you,"

"Ouch," Sonic pretended to grab at his heart like he was in pain, "That hurts Knucklehead."

Knuckles just rolled his eyes as he walked inside the apartment. Sonic closed the door then went to the top of the basement steps and hollered down for Tails.

After Sonic told him it was Knuckles, "Send him on down," Tails yelled, "I have my hands full at the moment."

Tails' lab was the messiest but organized lab Knuckles had ever been in. There were shelves of thick books and beakers. On the counter tops were flasks and test tubes filled to the brim with strange colored liquid. Something smelled like burnt popcorn.

The fox popped up from behind a large cabinet. He was wearing a welding mask and holding a flamer.

"Hey Knuckles," he said cheerfully, but still slightly confused on why the echidna would want to see him, "What's up?"

"Well, the thing is, I need your help," Knuckles said.

Tails rested the mask on his forehead, "With what?"

Knuckles looked up at the books, "I know that you had all these ancient books about a lot of stuff and I was wondering if I could look through some,"

"Oh sure. Help yourself," Tails replied, waving to all the shelves, "There's another bookshelf in the supply closet, if you have trouble finding anything. I'm gonna get back to work but holler if you need me."

"Thanks," Knuckles said, somewhat disgusted at how smart and kind the little fox was.

He started picking books off the shelves and sat down on a stool and flipped through each page. At first, he couldn't find what he was looking but then he spotted it in one particularly dusty old book.

It was the old document that was a long and dull-looking and was numbered in Roman numerals and written in the dead echidna language Knuckles knew very scarcely.

Tails came up behind him and peaked over his shoulder.

"What are you looking at?" he asked.

Knuckles ran his hand over the page, "It's a transcript of the Ancient Echidna Law. I'm looking under the article on resignation of powerful position."

"Meaning?"

"Resignation of guardianship,"

Tails frowned and cocked his head, "Isn't it a little too soon to be looking for that? I mean, the baby isn't even born,"

"No, I meant to take my family name out of the line of succession."

Tails' mouth gaped wide open, "What?!? You can't be serious."

Knuckles didn't lift his eyes off the page and just nodded.

"Isn't that permanent?" Tails asked.

"Yup,"

Tails laid a hand on Knuckles' forehead, "Are you high?"

Knuckles swatted the fox's hand away, "No,"

"Why the sudden change? And what about the honor and pride thing you've been lecturing to me and Sonic all these years?" he said.

Knuckles rubbed his temples, "Look, things are just different now. And I'd be more proud of him or her if they went out and actually lived their life, which I spent 18 of my life not doing. Now, could I borrow your scanner? I'm gonna need a copy of this-"

Just at that moment, Sonic came clomping down the steps, "Well," he said with a dramatic sigh, "I couldn't go back to sleep, thanks to Knucklehead here, so I've decided to see what you kids were up to,"

He peered over at the exposed page in Knuckles' lap, "What's that?"

Knuckles tried to give Tails a threatening look to not tell, but the Tails already blurted out, "Knuckles is giving up his guardianship,"

Sonic's eyes widened for a moment, but five minutes later he burst into manic fits of laughter, "Oh, god. You've got to be joking."

"No, he's really serious," Tails insisted. Knuckles scowled at him.

Sonic wiped the tears from his eyes, "No way. This can't be the same echidna who nearly crashed a space shuttle just because the emerald shards flew out of the hutch."

(A/N: Fans that have played SA2 will know what I'm referencing to)

"_Just_ because?!?" Knuckles roared, standing up.

"I rest my case," Sonic said, "There's no way this Knucklebrain would give that up,"

Tails looked over at Knuckles who had settled down again. "Well, is it what you really want?" he asked.

Knuckles closed his eyes and both Sonic and Tails watched him.

"Yes," he finally answered, "It is." Then he took on last sigh and glanced up at Tails with a new expression on his face, "So, about that scanner…"

* * *

Rouge and Amy were out shopping in the biggest mall in Mobius. They had already taken 5 bathroom breaks (mainly because of Rouge) and sat on the benches by the water fountains for a total of 30 minutes (again, Rouge). They took hours at stores that Rouge got pissed off in, because they were clothes she could not squeeze into anymore, but Amy had promised her that they could also look at maternity clothes.

They walked into a store called _Maternité Joyeuse, _an expensive clothes boutique that specialized in maternity wear.

There was a very tall, elegant, and definitely not pregnant saleslady looking at them, "Welcome ladies," she purred in a strong French accent, "Is zhere anythingz I can help youz with today?"

"No thanks, we're just looking," Rouge replied and wandered towards the racks of big overflowing shirts. Amy followed close behind looking very much out of her comfort zone.

"Wow, this place is pretty fancy schmancy."

"Yeah," Rouge held up a shirt and examined it, "Fancy, my ass. More like expensive and a rip-off. Who pays $120 for a shirt your only gonna have for 9 months?" She pointed to the price tag on the shirt before hanging it on the rack again.

"I guess if you plan on being pregnant again…"

Rouge made noise and wrinkled her nose, "Yeah, right." And then stalked off towards the pants.

Amy ran to catch up, "Really Rouge?" You don't want another baby? Ever?"

"I dunno. Depends on how much I like this kid,"

Amy raised her eyebrows.

"Amy, I'm kidding. Geesh, did you really think I was being serious?" Rouge said.

"So you and Knuckles will have more kids?"

Rouge's cheeks flushed unexpectedly, just thinking about having another steamy night with the echidna like the night this child was conceived made her heart flutter. "I guess the future will decide that," she answered then walked over to the pants rack.

Once she had picked out a full outfit, they went to the dressing rooms. The first shirt Rouge tried on was a size too small (much to her frustration). She pulled back the curtain of the dressing room to show Amy.

"I look like a hippo," she said.

Amy smiled, "Well, duh. You got a little animal growing inside you. But atleast you got some excuse," She walked over to the wall mirror, "I think my butt's getting bigger."

"Sometimes, that's not a bad thing," Rouge said.

"I suppose but it seems like since I've stopped chasing after Sonic, I've packed on weight. I mean, you've seen how fast that boy can run."

"You don't do it anymore?" Rouge asked, pulling the curtain back to change into something else.

"No," Amy sighed, "I've been put down too many times. So many that I began to see a therapist. She said I had something called OCD." She scoffed, "Whatever that means. I don't even know where she's getting that from."

"I can't imagine," Rouge replied dryly.

"Well, anyways. It had something to do with Sonic. So she said I should focus my interests on better things that will actually help progress me through life, like a job, hobby, or a new crush."

"Do you still like Sonic?"

"I think I do. It's hard to say. Although I have to admit, he was actually really strange when I went over to his apartment. He wasn't acting like his usual self."

Rouge struggled to zip up her shirt, "Hey, could you come zip this up for me?" I'm so stuffed that I can't even reach behind me."

Amy tugged the curtain back, "Sure."

Just then, Rouge got a strange look on her face.

Amy pulled back, "What is it? What's wrong?"

Rouge started to breathe heavily. She clutched her stomach.

"Amy," she said, "You're not gonna believe this,"

"What?!?" Amy cried, starting to panic.

"I think," Rouge said catching her breath, "my water just broke."

* * *

Knuckles watched as Tails' printer spit out a copy of the echidna transcript. Tails had gone back to his work and Sonic had just gone upstairs to answer the phone.

His hands were shaking. He had finally done it. Now, all that had to be done was to get his dad, the prior guardian and his parent, to sign on the fine line. Then after that, it was all done. He wasn't sure what was gonna happen to him. But he knew what would happen for he and Rouge and the new baby. Never would they have to return to Angel Island. It felt like his shackles were breaking as he held up the paper.

A strange calm just started to fall over him, but that didn't last long. Sonic came running down the stairs with such speed and intensity that it attracted the attention of Tails.

"Sonic?" Tails asked, "What's wrong?"

Sonic looked right at Knuckles, "Amy just called. There's something important that she needed to tell you."

Knuckles didn't even show much interest, "I don't think I wanna know if it's coming from Amy."

Sonic shook his head, "Normally I would agree but this time, I think you do."

"What is it?" Knuckles asked.

"Rouge is in labor,"

* * *

The European sales ladies scurried around the store like squirrels in a frantic rush, trying to keep Rouge from giving birth right in the middle of the store

The tall French lady who had talked to Amy and Rouge before ran to call 911. Another lady got a chair and blanket. Amy was freaking out badly. Rouge grabbed the hedgehog and said to her through clenched teeth, "Call. Knuckles. Now."

Pain crashed over Rouge like waves and she felt like everything was darkening around her. All she wanted right now was Knuckles.

While they waited for the ambulance to come, Amy kneeled down next to her, "I just got off the phone with Sonic," she said, "They'll meet us at the hospital, ok?"

Rouge didn't say anything and just nodded.

Soon the ambulance arrived and Rouge was loaded up into the back. As soon as they got to the hospital, Rouge was bombarded with nurses from every angle. They wheeled her into a room and quickly hooked her up to IVs.

A big toothy doctor came in and grinned at Rouge, "Look's like someone's ready to pop," he said then laughed. Rouge's fingers curled into a fist. She was not in the mood.

The smile never left the doctor's face, "Well, it's nice to meet you Rouge. I'm Dr. Richard Gleeson. I'll be delivering your baby today. How are you feeling?"

"Terrible" Rouge grumbled.

"Fantastic," Gleeson said cheerfully, "I'll have a nurse see how dilated you are and after that, we'll get this show on the road," Then much to Rouge's relief, he turned on his heal and left.

The nurse, a female blue jay, stepped up to Rouge's bed, "I know he tends to be a little in-your-face at times, but you'll just love him." she said.

"Doubt it," Rouge muttered.

The blue jay put plastic gloves on and performed her tests on Rouge. When she was done, she tugged the gloves off and washed her hands in the sink, "You're not ready yet," she said, "You're still only 5 centimeters."

Rouge groaned, "When will this be over? I feel like I'm dying."  
"Believe me hon, dying would be a lot painless than this. We've already got you hooked up to pain meds. They should kick in soon. In the meantime, is there anything else that you need?"

"Yeah, a freakin gin and tonic," Rouge said.

"Sorry, all out." The nurse replied, "How about some water?"

Rouge nodded and closed her eyes again, "That'll do."

* * *

_Later on...._

Knuckles and Sonic ran into the waiting room where they were met by Amy.

"Which room?" Knuckles asked.

Amy pointed down the hall, "Room 191. But I'd be cautious if I were you, she's on a nasty rampage. It's been a tough labor."

"How is she right now?"

"I dunno, they kicked me out about fifteen minutes ago."

Knuckles sighed, "Okay, I'm going in."

Sonic patted his back, "Good luck."

Knuckles went into the room and saw her. The familiar silhouette of the bat, sitting up on the bed except this time there was a round shadow in the place where her stomach was.

"Hey," she said, glancing over at him.

There were no nurses in sight. Knuckles stepped inside the room, "Hi," he said.

He was at a loss of words, "So, did you notice the room number?" he began.

Rouge arched an eyebrow, "No, I guess not. What about it?"

Knuckles came closer, "Room 191. Remember?"

It took Rouge only a second to think about it, then she smiled, "Yeah. The same room we had, That Night." She made air quotes with her fingers, "Oh god, that's ironic."

"It seems like you've settled down," he said taking a seat on the edge of the bed, "Amy said you were going crazy,"

Rouge rolled her eyes, "Since when have you listened to what that silly girl has to say?"

She reached out to him with her arms, "Why are you so far away?" she asked.

Knuckles scooted closer and took both her hands. He lifted them to his lips and kissed them.

"Are you afraid?" he whispered.

"No," she said without missing a beat, "Are you?"

"A little." he muttered, the same innocent child look plastered on his face again.

All of a sudden, a bad contraction hit Rouge. She closed her eyes and began to breathe harder.

"What's wrong?" Knuckles asked, his voice cracking.

"It hurts," she whispered, her forehead wrinkled and her brows furrowed.

The blue jay came into the room and smiled at Knuckles, "Hello. Don't mind me. I'm just doing a check-up. How are you doing sweetie?"

"Not good," Rouge said, "I could really use that gin."

The nurse performed her usual test but then something was different then before. She lifted her head, a wide grin on her face, "Forget the gin," she said, "You're ready."

Knuckles eyes widened, "What?" he squeaked, "Ready for what?"

"What do you think?" Rouge said.

The nurse pushed the call button on the wall, "Don't try to reason with him. This is typical male freakout time."

Another nurse ran in with a cart, full of medical stuff. The two nurses began to set things up and Rouge looked up at Knuckles. Sweat drops fell from his brow and his eyes were wide. It was the most frightened she'd ever seen him. She was starting to feel the panic in her heart.

Tons of nurses flooded into the room. The big-toothy doctor came in behind them in a flash. He snapped on gloves as the nurses seized Rouge's ankles and propped them up on the leg rests. Knuckles was the only living thing in the room who kept still and silent by her bedside. He wore a complex expression on his face that Rouge wished she could decipher. But that was impossible at the moment. All the bustle and pain began to overwhelm her. The brims of her eyes filled with tears and her hand immediately reached for Knuckles' own sweaty hand.

Dr. Gleeson positioned himself on a swivel stool at the end of the bed and looked up at her, "Okay, Rouge. I'm gonna need you to start pushing. Ready? Push!" She did as he commanded and the pain ripped through her body. She screamed and gripped Knuckles' hand tighter. Warm and salty tears were running down her face in a constant flow.

"Push!" the nurses yelled.

She felt numb. It was a feeling like none other. Here she was bringing a new life into the world and yet, she felt like hers was ending.

"One more Rouge," Dr. Gleeson said, "Come on, you can do it." Rouge braced herself and gave it all she had in one last push. Then, it was over. Loud baby sobs filled the room. The doctor lifted the baby up and handed it to a nurse who immediately carried it over to be cleaned and wrapped in a blanket.

Everything looked out of focus to Rouge. She used every ounce of strength left in her body and lifted her head, eager to see her newborn.

"It's a boy," the blue jay said and brought the bundle over towards her, "isn't he beautiful?"

Rouge tried to see him, but it was too much for her to handle. The pain and shock took over and all she could do was give a small weak smile before passing out stone cold.

--

_Finally! The baby is here! And there I had some of you worried that the story would end before it was born. How cruel do you think I am? lol. My writing has been off again so sorry that this chapter isn't the best. _

_Anyways....this time I can guarantee the conclusion to this story is coming next chapter. Then I got 2 new stories to start on....yay! _

_Peace out!_


	16. Chapter 16

_Well, people....we have finally reached the finish line. Yup, it's the last chapter. This is for all the fans and readers.....Enjoy!_

* * *

It was quiet and dark when Rouge finally regained conscious. No nurses were around, no big grinning doctors, all the medical equipment was gone and the blinds were drawn.

She blinked several times and twisted her head around the room. Knuckles was sitting in a chair in the corner. His head was tilted downwards looking at a bundle in his arms. He seemed to be in a trance as if he couldn't believe what he was looking at.

"Knuckles?" she croaked, the labor had knocked the wind and energy out of her.

His head snapped up with a panicked expression at first but then it softened. "Hey," he said, "Are you okay?"

"I…I think so," she rubbed her head tenderly, "What happened?"

"You passed out after the delivery. The doctors said you had lost a lot of blood,"

"Oh, I see." Her eyes grew wider as they laid on the object in his arms, "Is that…..him?"

"Yeah,"

"Well give him here, silly. I haven't even seen him yet,"

The bundle wrapped in a little blue blanket was handed down to Rouge, who could barely lift her arms minutes before, reached up easily to hold her child.

A tiny frosty white hand reached up from the blanket and Rouge took it gently. Her heart grew heavy and her emotions took hold of her. She had to turn her head away for a moment so no tears fell on the baby.

It was a small white echidna boy that looked almost exactly like Knuckles. He even had tiny buds on the back of his hand. His fur was warm and soft, and the peach colored muzzle had a small rosy tint in it.

Knuckles crouched down next to the bed so his head was right next to Rouge's.

"Knuckles," she whispered, "Look at him. He's…ours. And you can tell with the white fur and the buds on his hand. I bet his eyes are bright purple, just like his daddy and…oh god. He's absolutely perfect," her voice was shaking and she knew her words weren't making much sense at the moment. So many thoughts and feelings were flooding over her that she only managed to spurt out a couple sentences.

It was the same with Knuckles; he stared soundlessly at his son. His heart pounding hard in his chest and he felt dizzy.

"Isn't this the most perfect moment?" Rouge asked him, "This is how I prefer to see my son for the first time, not surrounded by lights or bustling doctors, but all alone with the guy I love and my newborn. It's just the way I imagined it,"

And just like that as if her words had been overheard, the blue jay nurse had stuck her head in.

"Oh good," she said, "I thought I heard voices in here,"

She turned on the lights and crossed the room towards the bed, "So, what do you think? This was quite a difficult labor for you, but you pulled through. And now as a result, you have this beautiful boy."

She patted Rouge on the shoulder, "You must be a proud mama,"

"I am," Rouge said, "Who knew that something other than a diamond could mesmerize me this much?"

"Life is full of surprises, dear." the nurse replied. She turned her attention to a clipboard in her hand, "Well, I came to get some info out of you for the birth certificate. Is that okay?" She waited as Knuckles and Rouge both nodded, "Alright, so do you guys have a name in mind?

"Yeah, I think I do." Rouge said in a soft dreamy voice, "I want his name to be Langdon."

Both the nurse and Knuckles looked at each other.

"Really?" Knuckles asked hesitantly.

"I chose it because of its meaning,"

"What does it mean?"

"Son of a guardian," she said, looking up at him, "Fitting, huh? I mean, if you don't like it we could…."

"No, no I like it," he said quietly, his voice trailing off.

"So you guys agree? His legal name is Langdon?" the nurse asked, her eyes darted from Rouge to Knuckles, looking unsure.

"Yes," Rouge replied not taking her eyes off her son.

"Okay, then. Langdon it is," she jotted it down on the paper, "Oh, and you have two visitors that have been waiting out in the waiting room, should I send them in?"

"Oh crap," Knuckles said, "I almost forgot about Sonic and Amy,"

"Yeah, we know. Thanks a lot." Sonic scoffed, coming through the door, Amy following right behind him. They both looked immediately at the bundle in Rouge's arms, "Is that the little guy?" Sonic asked motioning at it.

Knuckles nodded.

Amy ran up to Rouge. "Oh my goodness, he's so adorable. Congrats girl!" she gave Rouge a small hug.

"Thanks," Rouge said.

"You too Knuckles!" Amy said turning to him.

"For what? I didn't do anything,"

"It doesn't matter just come here!" she gave him a hug as well.

Sonic went over to the bed to see the baby, "Wow, this is almost unbelievable to think you guys are now parents. It's so bizarre. I mean, who would have thought that Knuckles would be the first to reproduce out of our group, especially with a female?"

Knuckles scowled at him and clenched his fist.

"Knuckles," Rouge giggled putting a hand on his, "He's just messing around, as usual."

Meanwhile, Amy was squirming uncontrollably, "Oh Rouge, can I hold him?"

"Sure," Rouge lifted the baby into Amy's arms. At first, she was a little nervous, but it turned out that Amy was a natural. She held the baby echidna carefully in her arms; she even remembered to support his fragile head.

"What's his name?" she asked rocking him back and forth.

"Langdon,"

"Oh. That's…..unique,"

"Yeah," Rouge said winking at Knuckles, "It is."

"Where's Tails?" Knuckles asked.

"Working," Sonic watched Amy as she paced the room, carrying Langdon, "He promised to stop by as soon as he was done,"

"Oh, this would probably be the best time to tell you guys something then," Rouge said looking up at Knuckles. He knew at once what she was talking about.

"What?" Sonic asked.

"We want you guys to be Langdon's godparents,"

Amy's eyes widened and Sonic's eyebrows shot up, "Wow, guys," Amy said, "We'd love to be his godparents,"

"Wait, hold up," Sonic said suddenly, "What exactly do godparents do?"

"If Knuckles and I were to die all of a sudden, Langdon would be in your custody,"

"What?!" Knuckles leapt from his spot, "Sonic taking care of a kid?!?!?! You gotta be joking me! I wanna change my vote,"

Sonic stood up, "It's not like you could do any better. Heck, you can't even keep track of a stupid emerald."

"Why you…."

"Guys! Stop!" Amy planted herself between the two, "This is supposed to be a happy moment. Look at you, fighting in front of poor little Langdon." She raised the baby echidna that was still sleeping peacefully in her arms.

Rouge frowned at them, "Can't you two just get over yourselves for one day?" She sat up, "Knuckles, you and I both agreed that Sonic and Amy would be the right choice for this. Remember?"

Knuckles looked down at Langdon and stroked his son's head with his fingertips, "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry."

"Here," Amy handed Langdon over to Knuckles, "You and Rouge have some time alone to enjoy this moment." She grabbed Sonic by the arm, "We'll just be outside." And with that, they left.

"Alone at last," Knuckles sighed, sitting on the edge of the hospital bed. Rouge rested her head on his shoulder, "You said it," she said and the new parents stared in quiet admiration and amazement at their newborn son.

**Meanwhile out in the hallway…..**

"Why did you do that Amy?" Sonic asked once they were out of the room.

"Rouge and Knuckles need their time alone. Besides you were just pissing Knuckles off."

"Oh come on, you know I just like to joke around with him,"

"Yes, I know," Amy said, "But that wasn't the appropriate time. Even I'd hope that you have better sense then that,"

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked jogging to catch up with her, "What's going on with you? Just last week you were at my front door acting like your usual giddy self and now you're…..different."

"I've changed since then."

"You're more mature."

"I wish I could say the same for you," Amy said.

Sonic laughed. He couldn't believe what he was hearing out of the pink hedgehog who for so long had always been sweet and loving towards him. He didn't fully buy it.

"So how long are you going to keep this up Amy?"

"What?"

"The whole ignoring thing,"

Amy turned to him, "I'm not ignoring you, I just don't like you like that anymore. That's the past. I've changed. It's like you said, more mature."

"Oh, so you really mean it this time?" Sonic asked, being partly sarcastic, partly serious.

"Yes," Amy said, "Do you think we could just start over? As friends or as godparent partners thingys, or whatever?"

"Sure," he said, holding out his hand.

Amy looked at it funny, "What's that for?"

"You're supposed to shake it,"

"Oh right," She took his hand and shook it. Then the two parted awkwardly and retreated to different couches and didn't say a single word to each other the entire time.

* * *

**9 months later….**

"Knuckles!" Rouge hollered from the front door, "Are you watching Langdon carefully?"

"Yes!" he yelled back. It was the third time she had asked.

Knuckles was outside of their home on Angel Island with his son while Rouge was inside making lunch. She was on her lunch break at work and had flown up to Angel Island, like she does everyday to eat with them.

It was a nice spring day outside and the two echidnas sat in the shade of the trees. Knuckles watched as his son was attempting to make his first steps. He and Rouge had been working at it for days now. He held his arms out towards the smaller white echidna, in case of a sudden tumble.

"Come on," he cheered, "You can do it."

Langdon's knees wobbled but then stopped as he lifted a foot from the ground and reached it out to take one step…. but he wasn't gonna make it.

Knuckles noticed this and caught his son immediately, "Gotcha!" he said and scooped him up and raised him above his head.

Rouge stepped out of the house, "Come on you two," she said, "Lunch is finally ready. And hurry because I gotta be back at headquarters by one o'clock."

About 3 months after Langdon's birth, GUN called Rouge and asked her to come back. They had been forgiving about her early maternity leave, and the fact that she was the best they had, helped that decision a lot.

Rouge had been working the past months and often felt overtired and exhausted by the time she came home. She only got 3-5 hours of sleep at night sometimes because of Langdon's late night tantrums, but usually she stayed up way past her bedtime just to spend time with her new family. The only time she saw them during the day was at lunch time. She was unhappy about the distance and time it took to get up to Angel Island and she and Knuckles had been looking at apartments down in the city since she had sold hers.

Today was an important day especially for Knuckles. This was the day he told his dad that he was resigning the guardianship. He needed Locke's signature being that he was the prior guardian. Knuckles wasn't sure how his father was going to take it but he still had to get that signature. Especially seen he had agreed with Rouge to start looking for an apartment. After work, she was going to look at one that looked promising.

Knuckles felt mixed feelings about leaving his native home, but was excited, all the same, to get away.

After lunch, Rouge kissed Knuckles and Langdon goodbye and took off for the city once again. And Knuckles decided that he should head over to Locke's.

Knuckles strapped Langdon into his car seat, before getting behind the wheel and taking off towards his old man's house. Every so often Knuckles took a glance in the rearview mirror and saw his son, with a thumb in his mouth and staring out the window watching the scenery go by.

After about 30 minutes driving, he pulled up into Locke's driveway, got Langdon out of the car seat, and rang the doorbell.

His father came to the door and smiled when he saw who it was.

"Well, hello. What brings you two here today?" he said cheerfully. He had come to visit Rouge and Knuckles once in the first weeks they brought the baby home from the hospital so he had already seen his grandson.

"I thought we could stop by for a quick visit. Do you mind?" Knuckles said.

"Not at all, come on in." Locke said, motioning them inside.

They sat down in the living room and Knuckles let Langdon crawl around on the carpet.

"He really has grown since I've last seen him," Locke muttered in wonderment as he watched the young echidna, "It's amazing."

"Yeah, try living with it." Knuckles joked.

"Hey, I already did my time son. You were quite a handful."

"I guess he gets it from our side of the family. But of course, you know how Rouge is so I could've come from hers too,"

"How are you guys?" Locke asked.

"What do you mean?" Knuckles said, eyeing Langdon carefully making sure the enfant didn't crawl away into the next room.

"I mean, are you well? Relationship still as strong as it seemed that first day I met her?"

"Yes, I think so." But honestly it seemed like since Langdon was born, he and Rouge really hadn't had time to themselves. She was either working or sleeping most of the day and Knuckles was left to himself a lot, but he wasn't going to tell his dad that.

Knuckles looked down at his hands, "Actually Dad, there was a specific reason why I came here today."

"What's that?"

"I've done some thinking especially since Langdon has been born and this is a decision both Rouge and I have agreed on."

"What is it? Is this a problem with money?"

"No, it's not that," Knuckles insisted, "I'm going to resign my guardianship."

Locke blinked, "What?!"

Knuckles just nodded. He knew his father had heard him.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Locke said, "This is rarely ever done and I don't think the Echidna Elders on the Brotherhood Council will be too happy about this."

"I'm positive,"

"Why? If that's what you decide then you can't change your mind."

"I know," Knuckles said, then reached down and picked up Langdon who had been making his way towards the kitchen, "But I have a family now. I actually love it, more than I thought I ever would. I just wish you could've felt the same way."

Locke closed his eyes and sighed, "Listen, Knuckles. Your mother and I had our reasons for breaking up. The whole guardianship thing was finally did it, but before that we already had our issues. I loved your mother. Hell, I think that deep down, I still love her. But we weren't ready yet for that sort of commitment. We tended to rush into things without thinking of the consequences. And that's why we divorced. We weren't meant to be."

Knuckles didn't say anything as he digested all those words. I was the first time he heard those things about his parents.

"When I look at you and Rouge," Locke continued, "I don't see me and your mother. I see people who are truly in love." He swallowed and turned his head away, "Which is why, I will sign this form for you. Only if you swear to me that you are absolutely sure on this."

"Yes," Knuckles said not missing a beat, "It is."

"Then, it will be done,"

Knuckles pulled out the folded form that he kept in his pocket and handed it over. Locke walked over into the kitchen to get a pen. When he came back, it all became reality to Knuckles. When Knuckles tried to take it back from him, Locke just shook his head.

"You don't have to present it to the council. I will. I know how much you got on your hands already. Just let me deal with them crabby old folk."

"Thanks Dad, I appreciate it," Knuckles said, holding onto Langdon tightly.

"No problem," Locke looked at the baby echidna in Knuckles' embrace, "Your gonna make a good dad,"

"God," Knuckles groaned, "That makes me feel old,"

"Yeah? Try being called grandpa then we can talk about feeling old,"

Knuckles smirked, "Fair enough,"

He and Langdon started for the front door, it was about time for the baby's nap.

"Bye son. Good luck." Locke said.

"You too, good luck with those cranky elders." Knuckles replied winking at him.

Locke just chuckled before shutting the front door behind him.

* * *

Rouge came home in a good mood and with even better news.

"Knuckles, you will never believe it." she gasped as soon as she entered the house.

Langdon just had been put to bed after a long day and Knuckles, who was sprawled on the couch, was feeling exhausted, "What?"

"You know that apartment I went to check out? It's awesome and it's just perfect for a small family of three. So I signed a lease for it."

She stood there waiting for his reaction, but Knuckles didn't seem so excited.

"What's wrong with you?" she demanded, putting her hands on her hips.

"Nothing."

Rouge just gave him a sly smirk, "Come on," she whined, "You can tell me."

"I'm just tired,"

"You won't be after I'm done with you," she said. She climbed onto his lap and stretched her body against his. All the baby weight was completely gone and she had reached her normal body size again.

He wrapped his arms around her middle, "It's been a long time since I've held you this close to me,"

Rouge grinned, "Well, let's see. You spent the first four months of my pregnancy being pissed off at me and by the time we got together, I was already fat."

"Things seem so different now,"

"Yeah, I know. I noticed the change especially in you,"

"Me? I didn't change much did I?"

"Omigod, you?" she snorted, "You were the most stubborn ass guy I've ever met in my life and now you're this nice, sensitive, and loving…."

Knuckles made a face.

Rouge giggled, "But I can't decide which one I like better."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, now that you're a dad I want you to be caring and sweet but later when it's just you and me," she brushed her lips against his, "I want you to be Mr. Hard-ass tough guy again. No offense, but your definitely sexier then."

"Oh,"

"So, what about me? Do I seem more motherly?"

Knuckles snorted, "Oh hell no,"

Rouge pinched him on the arm.

Knuckles yelped in pain, "What the heck was that for?"

"You deserved that."

* * *

The day of moving out had finally come. Rouge had taken the day off of work to move into the new apartment and was now standing outside the house. Since there was no possible way on earth that they could move everything off of a floating island in the sky to the apartment down in Station Square, Knuckles had asked Tails if they could use his helicopter to transport everything. This included the bureau and bed, Rouge's sack of jewels that Knuckles ignored, and also the wooden crib he had made for Langdon. It was all packed away and ready to go to a new place.

"I think that's everything," Rouge announced, "You ready to go to a new home?" she cooed to Langdon who was balanced on her hip and sucking his thumb.

Rouge watched as Knuckles came out of the shack for the last time, "What's going to happen to that?" she asked motioning to the house.

"It belongs to whoever's guardian," Knuckles explained, "So everything is all arranged for it,"

He stared at the building. For many years he considered it home, but more than ever it looked like a prison that he had just escaped from. Although, he wasn't really happy that he let his dad take the hit for him from the Brotherhood Council. Those old guys could be tough, especially when they're armored with their wooden walking sticks.

"Hey," Rouge said putting her hand in his, "You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah," Knuckles said shaking away the trance, "I'm fine,"

"Good. Listen, Sonic and Tails are waiting for us in the helicopter. I don't think we should keep them waiting for too long. Plus, the check-in time ends at four."

Just then, a thought struck Knuckles, "Would you mind if I went and took one last look at the altar?" he asked Rouge suddenly.

"Why? Don't tell me you're actually gonna miss that thing…"

"I dunno, I just feel like I should, for some odd reason."

"Okay, I guess that's cool. Don't be long; we have a certain check-in time at the apartment complex. Oh, and do you mind taking Langdon? Maybe he would like to see his could-of-been future,"

Knuckles rolled his eyes, "Ha ha, real funny," he muttered dryly. "Yeah, hand him over."

Rouge watched the two echidnas as they walked down the path towards the altar. Her heart swelled at the sight and she felt a strange happiness sweep over her like a brisk summer wind. The kind that calms you from head to toe and makes you feel peaceful and like everything will be alright. And that's why Rouge had no regret to turn around and let father and son have a moment to themselves.

* * *

Knuckles felt odd looking up at the master emerald altar. It seemed barren and deserted. His dad had told him a replacement was being decided by the Brotherhood Council, and should be ready for action as soon as possible. One lone security guard sat on the top stair, slumped over fast asleep not paying any attention to the former guardian and his son down below.

"Well," Knuckles sighed, holding onto Langdon tightly, "I guess this is it. Not like I'm sad though, all these steps ever did for me was giving me a sore ass," he looked down at his son who was sucking on his thumb, "Sorry."

'_Suck, suck, suck,' _was the only response Knuckles heard from his son. A hard gust blew, ruffling through Knuckles' dreads. The guard's hat tipped over to one side, threatening to fly off. Knuckles put up the hood of the Baby Gap hoodie on Langdon. The infant hardly noticed the wind and proceeded to suck on his thumb tirelessly.

Knuckles had nothing else to say. Even though most of the Brotherhood Council, not including his father, hated him for betraying their honor, he still felt no regret. The reason for this had its small pointy chin resting on Knuckles' shoulder and the sassy bat that waiting for him back at the helicopter.

When the temperature dropped another 5 degrees, Knuckles decided it was time to leave,

"I guess this is goodbye," he said. He looked at Langdon, "Can you say bye-bye?"

The young echidna raised its head and waved its small hand at the emerald, "Bye-bye," he peeped.

Knuckles was shocked, "Did you say what I thought you said? Oh man, Rouge will be so pissed that she missed your first words. Wait, I probably shouldn't say that around you, huh? Oh and just because you can talk now, doesn't mean you can go and rat me out, ok?"

Langdon just giggled, showing his toothless, drooly mouth. It usually took a lot to get Knuckles to even crack a smile, but he couldn't help but grin when he heard his son laugh. Rouge would be jealous to see this. He realized how much the sun had gone down and he knew Rouge would have a fit if Langdon was out in the chilly evening air for too long.

"Alright, I'm done here. You ready to go see mommy?" Knuckles asked.

"Ma ma ma," Langdon replied while gumming on his fist,

Knuckles turned towards the sunset and headed back down the path. His backside completely turned away from the altar and hugging his son even closer, he whispered, "That's my boy."

The End.

--

_Yep, that's it folks. The last chapter is finally up and this story is finished. I hope that wasn't too abrupt. I never imagined this story to have 16 chapters. It's crazy. Thanks so much to all the readers and reviewers. You made writing this story really enjoyable._

_'Expectations' is now completed. :)_


End file.
